Be Careful What You Wish For
by daenesme
Summary: 16-year-old Lola Allen is an ordinary girl, raised on a small farm in rural Kent with nothing but the Harry Potter books to keep her company. She has one wish on the night of her 17th birthday: to escape her boring life. But when she wakes up as her 11-year-old self with a letter from Hogwarts, she soon realises what she has gotten herself into.
1. A Wish Granted (Prologue)

Hi! This is a story idea that I have been toying with for very a long time. It took a while for inspiration to hit me. But I'm very excited to be finally working on this story. In this chapter, we meet our protagonist Lola, and get a glimpse into what her daily life is like. There is no magic involved yet, but Lola will look back at these times as some of the best in her life. Next chapter, things get very strange as a woman we all know visits the Allen house…

 **Disclaimer:** Of course, I don't own anything apart from my own original characters.

* * *

 _Bored._

That's how Lola felt when she sat on the sill of her bedroom window, staring out at the huge barnyard where her brother Lance was milking the sheep. She couldn't help but lick her lips as she thought of the delicious feta cheese they would culture from it later on. Though it was their main source of income, she was sure that her father would spare a little for her birthday tomorrow, which instantly put a smile on her face.

Lola stood up carefully, making sure that her earphones were still in her ear. She grabbed her copy of " _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_ " from its shelf and let the musty smell of the book wash over her. As "Keep Holding On" by Avril Lavigne blared through her headphones, she made her way down the stairs and through the hall to her favourite place in the whole wide world, the stables.

Princess, their light grey Selle Français horse, whinnied in delight as Lola walked in holding a block of grass hay in her arms. Lola knew that Princess was excited, not because of the hay, but because it was time to play.

Lola took out her earphones and began escorting the horse outside.

Princess trotted alongside Lola obediently as they both walked gracefully into the morning sunlight. The sun had barely risen, yet dawn sent weak but shimmering rays over Lola's copper hair. Watching the morning twilight salute the upcoming sunrise was something truly mesmerising, thought Lola.

It was going to be a very beautiful day indeed.

"What to do?" asked Lola to the endless fields of green in front of her, sounding hoarse.

Princess nudged her head and grunted, as if to say " _Walk me, duh_!". Or at least that's how Lola had preferred to interpret her moaning.

They began walking the path they took every morning, which inevitably led to an enormous oak tree by the river, where Lola's father had built a small but sturdy hammock for her and her little sister Leona. Once they reached it, Lola watched Princess jump happily over the huge rocks scattered all across the ground, parallel to the river. Much like her horse, Lola had also fallen in love with the area when she had first discovered it, and she made sure to visit it almost every day. It was like nature's gift to her elegant sport-horse.

"Good girl!" Lola cheered as Princess continued to jump around, fast as lightning.

She climbed into the hammock, choosing a relaxing tune from her iPod and nearing the end of the 7th book of the Potter series. She couldn't help but feel emotional as she read Snape's tragic end for the hundredth time, as well as the deaths of so many characters she loved. But she couldn't stop reading, not even for a second, as her beloved Harry Potter books were the only way for her to escape her boring, repetitive daily life.

By the time she reached the epilogue, the blazing midday sun was above her head, and Princess was enthusiastically drinking from the river water. She got up hastily, reaching her phone, and saw that she had two missed calls from Lance, as well as an hour-old message from her mother which read " _Your breakfast is getting cold honey_ ".

Swearing under her breath, she gently attached a head collar to Princess' halter and quickly led her back to the farm. When they reached the barnyard, she left Princess and made her way back to the house.

Same as every morning, her mother had prepared a cheese and mushroom omelette, half a cup of baked beans and a side of leftover tomato salsa for her. Since she was the only vegetarian in the house, her dietary range was quite limited, despite being the daughter of a hard-working farmer.

She gulped down her boring breakfast over some herbal tea and went back to her room to do some tidying. A few hours later she felt her phone buzz in her pocket.

" _morning babe x._ " wrote Ellie, her best friend. " _what u up 2 today?_ "

Lola sighed loudly. " _At home. Not much going on. Wanna come over?_ " she typed and hit send with hope.

Ellie's response was almost instant. " _can't babe soz :( gotta look after_ lil _bro. see u tomorrow at school? could flunk last period & go 2 the movies with jake..._"

Lola sighed even louder as she typed "Sure" half-heartedly. Jake was Ellie's boyfriend but her parents had never approved of their relationship ever since they had met him. Which meant that Ellie would usually have to ditch school to see him, and always invited Lola along so that she could keep an eye out for prying eyes.

Lola threw her phone aside with frustration and laid face down on her bed, feeling angrier than ever. It was her 17th birthday tomorrow, a day which was supposed to be big and memorable for her, and yet it already felt it was going to be just like any other day, if not even worse.

She thought of Harry, and how he had celebrated his 17th birthday. Even though he was an orphan who didn't even exist in the real world, Lola felt jealous of all the attention and presents the Boy Who Lived received on his 17th birthday. She wondered, perhaps for the billionth time, what it would be like to live in the magical world of Harry Potter. She did more than wonder: _she wished did_.

Slowly but surely, Lola drifted into a sweet, cosy nap, as she daydreamed about all the adventures she would have as a witch at Hogwarts.

* * *

When she woke up, her mother was peering over her, a look of concern evident in her bright blue eyes.

"Sweetheart…" she said softly. "Are you okay?"

Lola groaned as she turned on her side to avoid rays of sunlight creeping in through the blinds. "Yeah. Just tired…" she replied sleepily.

Her mother looked even more concerned. "You've been sleeping for more than fifteen hours honey. Are you sure you feel okay? I can call Dr. Riby if you don't feel well."

Lola's eyelids fluttered open. She looked at her mother as if she had seen her properly for the first time in years. "Mum…" she said slowly. "Dr. Riby passed away two years ago, remember?"

Evelyn Allen laughed nervously as she stared at the serious expression on her daughter's face. "Don't be ridiculous honey. He came to check up on Leona just a few weeks ago. Remember when she swallowed her blue toy?"

Lola did remember… Only problem being that it had happened _more than 6 years ago_!

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks for reading! Please leave a review about what you thought; good and bad, both welcome! See you next chapter. X


	2. A Visitor Greeted

**A/N:** Thank you for your kind reviews – it has motivated me to release the second chapter in less than 24 hours! In this chapter, a familiar face comes to visit the Allen household. Stay tuned for Chapter 3, where Lola is finally ready to attend her dream school, which will be out very soon! Don't forget to leave a review if you liked/disliked this chapter; your comments motivate me and allow me to improve!

* * *

Lola had been standing in front of the bathroom mirror for more than an hour now.

How was it possible that she woke up one morning, looking and feeling like her eleven-year-old self? She moved in closer to the mirror to stare at her own reflection. A confused, five foot one version of herself with waist-length copper hair and small, blue eyes stared back at her.

How was it that she was all of a sudden a 17-year-old teenager trapped in the body of an 11-year-old child? How was it that the newspaper said it was August 27th, 1991, when although it was the day of her birth, she wasn't even born until 1998?

"I must be dreaming," Lola rationed, cringing to the sound of her prepubescent, high-pitched voice. "There is no other explanation."

She had heard of things like Lucid dreaming and Astral projection, where people became aware of their own dreams while dreaming and even managed to shape them however they liked. She closed her eyes and imagined herself flying.

Nothing happened.

A loud knock on the bathroom door interrupted her reverie. "Hurry up, Lola!" she heard Lance moan from outside the door, with a voice that sounded too young and frilly to belong to him. "I'm going to be late for school!"

Lance had stopped attending school about four years ago.

Lola sighed, feeling defeated. "Coming!" she replied.

When she finally went downstairs and saw what was on her breakfast plate, she couldn't help herself. "Mom!" she groaned frantically. "What's this?!"

Evelyn Allen turned her head from the kitchen sink and looked at her daughter's plate worriedly. "A sausage roll, hun. Your favourite, just the way you like it. Do you need me to heat it up for you or something?"

Lola simply looked back in shock. She couldn't remember the last time she ate a sausage roll, let alone having liked it. She had stopped eating meat ever since she was twelve…

Confused, but resigned, she ate everything on her plate that didn't come from an animal and went back upstairs to brush her teeth.

Throughout the day, she noticed small but weird details all around the house. Where they used to have a flat-screen TV, was now a battered-looking, antique television set that she had once seen at grandpa Lincoln's. In fact, most of their furniture looked like it was stolen from a vintage charity sale. There were posters of celebrities and movies on her bedroom walls that she didn't even know existed. There were no stables, no sheep, and no Princess. Also, her 9-year-old sister Leona was now a toddler.

Suddenly, she heard an unfamiliar voice coming from the hallway. Curiously, she opened her bedroom door to eavesdrop, just in time to hear her mother say "She's upstairs. We haven't sent her to school today, seeing as it's her birthday and all. What did you say you wanted to speak to her about exactly, Ms. McGonagall?"

When Lola heard the name her mother used, she almost swallowed her tongue whole. Ms. McGonagall? This had to be a dream. Or a prank. Or a huge coincidence.

Or perhaps magic.

"All will be explained in due time, Mrs. Allen," Lola heard an old woman reply kindly. "It would be best for young Lola to be present while I deliver to you and your family some rather surprising news."

Quickly, Lola made her way downstairs. What she saw made her head spin.

Standing in the doorway was a tall woman dressed in unusual robes, her black hair hidden under a pointed hat with its tip crooked to one side. Her thin mouth was set in a stern but kind smile. The mystery woman looked up as Lola approached from the stairs.

Mrs. Allen followed the woman's gaze and caught a glimpse of Lola. "There she is. How are you feeling honey?"

Lola stared, transfixed, at the strange woman standing in the doorway, and didn't reply.

"Don't mind her bad manners," her mother brushed off nervously. "She's not feeling too well today."

"How are you, Miss Allen?" asked the old woman, staring at Lola curiously.

Lola tried not to scream and run for the hills. "Who are you?" she simply asked.

"I'm Professor Minerva McGonagall," she replied patiently. "I serve as the Deputy Headmistress at one of the best schools in the world. It's a special school for special children like you, and we would like to extend an invitation to you, Miss. Allen. I suggest we all sit down before I explain any further."

As they sat down awkwardly in the living room, Lola tried not to faint.

McGonagall finally broke the silence. "Let me start by asking, Mrs. Allen, how long have you been aware of Lola's strange abilities?"

Lola watched as her mother's eyes bright blue eyes opened in surprise. "I – I don't exactly know what you mean by that–"

"Think deep, Mrs. Allen," McGonagall urged. "It could be anything from breaking a plate without touching it, causing someone pain or embarrassment in a moment of anger, or even levitating from the ground for a few seconds. I'm fairly certain you have seen your daughter doing something you simply cannot explain."

Lola scratched her head. She didn't remember anything like what "Ms. McGonagall" described ever happening to her. Which reinforced the idea that this whole thing was either a very realistic dream or a very successful prank.

But to her dismay, her mother nodded in agreement and sighed deeply. "I have indeed."

Lola watched as this woman – this woman claiming to be a character from her favourite book series – brought out a letter stamped with the letter H from inside her emerald robes.

"This here is an acceptance letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Inside is Lola's name and surname, with my signature underneath, and a list of school supplies that she will need should you make the right decision and allow her to attend our school. It is a school for children who can perform what is known in our world as 'magic'. I have brought to you 4 copies of a short, introductory book about our world, our traditions, and our rules, as well as a brief summary of our education system." McGonagall momentarily gazed at Lola, who had an unreadable expression on her petite face. She then placed a stack of shiny books on the coffee table in front of her. The cover read "An Introduction to Magic for Muggles".

At this point, Lola had no choice but to admit to herself that this was too extensive to be a prank. And if what she was seeing and hearing was, in fact, a dream, then she decided to make the most out of it.

"Should you decide to allow Lola to attend Hogwarts, you need to write a letter addressed to me using this special pen and paper that I am about to give you." She placed a straw coloured parchment and a quill made out of a single bird feather next to the stack of books. "If not, you will have to home-school Lola by hiring her a private tutor. This tutor will teach her how to control and improve her magic, after getting a licence from our Ministry to practice out of school, of course. All of this is very costly, whereas Hogwarts is free to attend, so that is something for you and your family to consider."

Evelyn Allen listened quietly as Professor McGonagall went on to explain how they needed to act fast as term was due to start on September 1st and Lola would need to visit a diagonal alley, escorted by a member of staff, to do some school shopping beforehand.

She looked up at her daughter tentatively, who seemed pale and shocked. Evelyn was fairly certain that it must be how she looked as well.

A few hours after Professor McGonagall left, Lola's father came home from work. He listened with an arched brow as his wife told him the story of what had happened earlier on, and showed him all the stuff that the 'strange woman' had left them.

"I think this is real, Lloyd," whispered Evelyn Allen. "We've been saying for years how Lola has something very different about her. I've read a few pages from the book this McConnell woman left us, and it all makes sense so far."

Lance, who was buried behind his copy of the said book, nodded enthusiastically. " _Untrained witches and wizards are often aware of their abilities, but unable to control them. This often results in inexplicable behaviour which causes minor or major harm to themselves or to those around them_ ," he read dramatically. "Sounds a lot like Lola to me. I still have that bruise from when she made that huge baseball bat hit me in the leg."

That night, Lola went to bed, not wanting to sleep at all. This had been the most exciting day she had had in years, and waking up to her boring life again would be very devastating. But when she did wake up the next morning, she was both confused and elated to still be in her 11-year-old form.

"What is going on?" she whispered into nothingness. Whatever it was, though, she didn't want it to stop. Ever.

Downstairs, her mother was folding the piece of parchment that McGonagall had left them. Lola's heart leapt up in worry.

"What are you doing, mum?" she asked hastily, startling her mother.

Mrs. Allen looked up sympathetically. "I was going to have a word with you Lola." She seemed nervous and drew in a deep breath before she continued. "Your father and I have decided to send you to this school. We think it will be the best thing for you, and for this family." She bit her lip. "I hope you don't mind."

Lola shook her head to insinuate that she didn't mind at all. Hogwarts was her dream. _Literally._

"Only problem is," sighed her mother. "We forgot to get an address from this woman. Where the hell are we supposed to send this letter to?"

Lola grinned mysteriously. "Do you know where we can find an owl?"

It turned out that they didn't need an owl at all, as when they wrote Professor Minerva McGonagall on the letter, it disappeared into thin air after a loud _puff_.

The following day, a woman named Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus rang their doorbell in order to escort Lola to Diagon Alley.

Trying not to draw too much attention to themselves, they got dropped off at the train station, where Mrs. Allen placed a kiss on Lola's forehead.

"You be careful now, young lady," she warned her daughter. "And behave yourself."

Lola watched, impassively, as her mother drove off.

They took the next train to London and did not speak much during the entire journey. When Ms. Lucinda stopped in front of a small, shabby pub, Lola was deep in thought.

She looked up to read the sign a few feet above the pub and her heart dropped instantly. "The – the Leaky Cauldron?" It couldn't be real.

Ms. Lucinda gave her a strange look. "You been before? It's a famous place."

What happened afterwards was all a blur for Lola. In a few minutes, she found herself standing in Diagon Alley. It was much better than the replica she visited at the Warner Brothers Studio in Hertfordshire, which looked more like a street out of one of Charles Dickens' books. The _real_ Diagon Alley was definitely much more magical.

They first went to Gringotts, where Lola signed a few papers to open herself a bank account. They then changed up the money that Mrs. Allen had placed in Lola's purse.

They scurried from shop to shop and bought things such as robes, books, brass scales and even a foldable telescope that fit into Lola's pocket. Lola mostly stood around with a gaping mouth as Ms. Lucinda dealt with everything, and did nothing more than follow her simple instructions.

When they were in Flourish and Blotts, Lola's inner bookworm finally made her speak up.

"Um – Ms. Lucinda?" she asked as they walked up to the stern looking woman at the counter. "Can I check out some of the books here? I love reading and this place has more books than I have ever seen before. I won't take long, promise!"

Lola could spend days, even years, in this magical bookstore. She felt happier than ever as she walked between shelves of books, some with moving pictures, some with their own music, and some even producing a thick smoke that almost caused Lola to choke.

The books were alive, and she loved it.

She came across a dusty title at the very back of one of the least popular shelves in the store, named "The Secrets of Hogwarts: What They Don't Want You To Know", written by a woman who looked like she belonged in a homeless shelter. It did have a map of Hogwarts which outlined every single corner and portrait in the castle in detail though, which Lola thought would come in pretty handy, so she decided to buy the book. She grabbed a few more unrelated books about Quidditch to make it seem less suspicious.

Lola walked into Ollivander's wand shop with her hands full of shopping bags and a huge smile on her face.

"Good morning," said an old man with white hair and silvery eyes behind the counter. "Nice to see you again Lucinda. How's the leg?"

"Better," she replied, showing a moderately sized burn mark on the side of her left leg. "Ruddy dragons. They need better parenting," she murmured under her breath.

Lola moved closer into the shop. "Hello Mr. Ollivander," she said sweetly.

He scrutinized Lola with calculating eyes. "Yes… Let's see what we have here." He ran to the back of the shop and returned with a dusty box. "Cedarwood, 11 inches, unicorn hair. Flexible. Suits most witches. Have a go."

Lola cautiously picked up the wand and drew her hand back immediately as she felt an electric current run through her.

"Okay, alright… Not for you, then," said Mr. Ollivander quickly as he put the wand back into its box and went back to fetch another one.

After almost an hour of nothing, Mr. Ollivander came back to look at Lola with his head tilted to the side and his silvery eyes narrowed. Lola felt like an unwanted food stain on one of his favourite shirts.

"What a strange year for wands this is. First Mr. Potter, and now you… But I did acquire a wand many years ago, I did indeed… Could it be?" He asked himself and then turned around slowly.

When he came back, he was holding a box gold in colour and covered in spider webs. "Applewood, 13 inches, and I believe the core is of a horned serpent horn. Unyielding… Such a handsome wand," he admired the long piece of wood in its box, before hesitantly giving it to Lola.

And finally, Lola felt a warm sensation in her gut.

"I see..." said Mr. Ollivander after a while. "This wand has been waiting for a long time for you Miss. Not best at the hands of those who wish ill upon the world." Mr. Ollivander eyed Lola at arm's length, before asking "You don't happen to be Irish, do you?".

Next, they visited Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour where they enjoyed two choco-nut sundaes. Ms. Lucinda informed Lola that the last thing they needed was a pet to bring to Hogwarts, should Lola wish to bring one. 20 minutes later, they left the Magical Menagerie with a ginger Ocicat kitten yet to be named.

It took Lola hours to tell her family all that had happened that day. They all ate the sweets and other goodies Lola had brought them from the Ice Cream Parlour as they listened to her adventurous day.

When she asked her baby sister what she should name her new kitten, Lola was shocked to hear that Leona mumbled "Princess!", one of the few words she knew how to pronounce. She decided to honour her sister, and her horse which now didn't exist, and name her new pet Prince, since it was male. She looked curiously at the ticket Ms. Lucinda had given her. Though there were only 3 days left, the 1st of September seemed like centuries away.

And Lola found herself wishing to never wake up from this beautiful dream when she went to bed that night.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed. Leave a review if you have any thoughts! See you next chapter.


	3. A Journey Begun

**A/N:** Thank you for the likes, follows and the reviews. I really appreciate them! For now, do not fear as I have no intentions of abandoning this story. In this chapter, Lola starts her journey to Hogwarts and makes the acquaintance of some familiar names. Stay tuned for next chapter, which will be the sorting ceremony.

* * *

"I told you guys, didn't I?" Lance was saying, trying to catch his breath, as the Allen family stormed past countless trains. "There's no such thing as Platform 9 ¾!"

Lola ignored the fact that her older brother had actually never said such a thing. She knew that Platform 9 ¾ was supposed to be somewhere between Platform 9 and 10, but there were two columns separating them and Lola wasn't sure which one would teleport her into a secret, invisible, magical platform and which one would give her a permanent concussion.

If this whole thing was real, that is.

"I shouldn't have left that bloody book at home," Mrs. Allen moaned, sounding remorseful. "I just assumed the staff here would know..."

Lola rolled her eyes. "It's a secret place, mum. Of course they wouldn't know."

She tried really hard to not sound as concerned as she was feeling. Things were definitely not going the way that she had planned them in her head. How was she supposed to convince her entire family to run through a brick wall, and would she be able to explain her reasoning if they ended up slamming into the wall instead of finding themselves in front of a red and steaming Hogwarts Express? They would definitely get some strange looks from the entire station.

That's when she saw, with the corner of her eye, a group of ginger-haired children being chaperoned by a plump, motherly woman. "You're not old enough, Ginny," the woman was saying to the youngest of the group. "Now be quiet."

Lola could feel her face break into a huge grin. She knew exactly who they were, and her loudly thumping heart confirmed this notion. Quickly, Lola pulled on the sleeve of her mother's jacket to grab her attention.

"There!" she said excitedly, pointing at the Weasley family. "I bet they're looking for the same place as us!" With their gold-encrypted trunks and loudly hooting owl, it wasn't difficult to believe.

Lola watched, mesmerised, as a scrawny looking boy with dark hair, baggy pants and round glasses approached Mrs. Weasley. She felt all the air leave her lungs immediately. Having grown up on a remote farmland in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nothing but sheep, Lola had never seen any celebrities or movie-stars in her short life of seventeen years. Judging by the way she felt her insides jiggle and her legs turn to Jell-O, she could guess that this is how people felt when they saw their idols casually strolling in public.

Harry Potter walked, not knowing he was being watched, straight into the solid column that separated the Muggle world from the magical world and disappeared into thin air. Lola heard her family behind her gasp in unison. She waited for the entire Weasley family to disappear before approaching the entrance to Platform 9 3/4. She turned and beamed at her family, who didn't seem too keen to run into a brick wall that morning. She would have to do it alone, but she was fine with that. After seeing Harry Potter in flesh, Lola was finally ready to bid farewell to the most important people in her life.

She hugged her father tight, who picked her up and gave her a quick spin like he used to do before she became too heavy. Lance ruffled her hair and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, hiding his sorrow behind sarcastic remarks. When she turned to embrace her mother, however, she could see the hot tears streaming down both sides of her pale face. Lola's heart dropped instantly. With things happening so fast, Lola hadn't even come to the realisation that she was, potentially, leaving everything she knew and loved behind for months.

Her brain was, for an unknown reason, seventeen-years-old, and her body was strangely eleven, but when Mrs. Allen wrapped her arms around her precious daughter one last time to give her a very tight hug, Lola felt like a baby once again.

"You be careful now, young lady," Mrs. Allen whispered, her voice quavering uncontrollably as she fought back some of her tears. "And behave yourself."

With one final wave, Lola was gone.

There was a moment of silence.

"Do you think we made the right decision, Lloyd?" Mrs. Allen asked anxiously as she stared at the entrance to Platform 9 ¾.

Mr. Allen put an arm around his wife tentatively. "Of course we did."

Evelyn Allen blew her nose into her handkerchief. "How - how can you be so sure? What if all this is a trick?"

"We did exactly as we were told," said Mr. Allen confidently. "This is what's best for her."

An unpleasant mixture of remorse and worry filled Mrs. Allen's heart. "But we should have told her… We should have told her the truth. She should have known the real reason why we made this decision… It's too dangerous otherwise…"

"It's okay, mum," Lance rested his head on his mother's shoulder. "We knew the risks. We knew them all along. It's done now. We did what we thought was best. We need to stick to it now."

"Exactly," Mr. Allen confirmed. "There's nothing else we can do. Now, let's go and pick up Leona."

* * *

Not long after, Lola found herself looking for an empty compartment like the rest of students who still didn't have a place to sit. Once again, she had difficulty grasping the "reality" that surrounded her, that she was on the Hogwarts Express (!) on her way to Hogwarts Castle (!).

This was too good to be a dream now. Lola was sure even her imagination wouldn't be able to stretch that far.

She looked at almost all of the compartments of the train, but had no luck finding the one where Harry or Ron was meant to be in. She knew that somewhere in this train, they were sat across from one another, getting to know each other as they indulged themselves in dozens of magical treats from the Trolley witch.

She felt her exhaustion grow as she pulled open the door to the compartment where Percy Weasley was sitting all by himself, his Prefect badge gleaming on his robes, gazing through a copy of the Daily Prophet.

"Sorry," Lola said apologetically. "Would you mind if I join you? Everywhere else is full…"

Percy looked up at the sweet, young girl standing by the door. Seeing as he didn't recognise her, or the fact that she was oblivious to the rules of Hogwarts Express, he was almost certain that she was a first-year.

"Sorry," he said as he proudly pointed at his badge. "This compartment is strictly for Prefects. I suggest you walk back to the beginning of the train and try your luck again."

Lola tried to reign her agitation. "Can I at least rest here for five minutes? I swear I'll be quiet. This is a very long train…" That was one thing she had never considered while reading the Potter books. To fit 1000 students into one train, you would definitely need a long one.

Seeing the plea in the girl's tired eyes was not what made Percy Weasley say yes. It was the possibility of her talking badly about Percy behind his back, which could hurt his reputation as a Prefect.

Lola sat as quietly and as still as she could, looking outside the train window in awe. The scene in front of them changed constantly, from trees to lakes to hills to cows. It was all fast, familiar and endless.

"So, you're a first-year, right?" Percy asked suddenly, interrupting Lola's reverie.

"Hopefully, I will be," Lola replied.

Percy weighed Lola up and down like a book he would like to borrow from the library. "Which house would you like to be in, then?"

Lola giggled nervously. "That's not my decision, is it?"

Percy smiled slowly. He loved opportunities where he could display a superiority of knowledge. "Don't underestimate your thoughts. The Sorting Hat takes _everything_ into account, even your conscious desires. It all has an impact."

"I guess so…" Lola murmured quietly, hoping that the Sorting Hat would not be able to read _all_ of her thoughts.

"So, which house?" Percy pressed.

Lola thought about it for a second. "I mean, I can definitely see myself in Ravenclaw. But then again, I'm very loyal."

They sat in silence for the next two minutes, until Lola suddenly realised something.

"Aren't there supposed to be more of you?" she piped up. "I mean, more Prefects? Surely it's not one compartment per Prefect!"

Percy blushed immediately, his ears going pink. "They're patrolling the train," he mumbled quietly and went back to reading his newspaper.

"What, all fifteen of them?"

Percy didn't answer.

A few minutes passed before the compartment door slid open to reveal a short girl dressed in new Hogwarts robes with round, brown eyes and a mane of bushy brown hair.

"Excuse me," she said formally after noticing Percy's badge, which made him straighten his back in pride. "Have you seen a toad at all? My friend Neville here has lost his."

This could only be one person, and Lola knew very well who it was.

In one tiny fraction of a second, she came up with a crazy idea. She knew how eager Hermione Granger was when it came to seeing magic. "Why look for it, when you can simply summon it?!"

Lola drew her wand courageously, and as she had predicted, Hermione's eyes drastically widened. "You know how to use a summoning charm? But that's Grade 4 stuff!"

Lola cleared her throat, before awkwardly saying into nothingness, "Accio, Neville's toad!".

Nothing happened.

"Um," she said quickly, putting her wand away. "I don't actually know how to use the spell. But I'm sure a Professor could easily summon your friend's toad, once we get to Hogwarts. I'm Lola, by the way. Lola Allen."

She extended her hand, which Hermione politely shook. "Hermione Granger. Pleasure."

Lola smiled. "Likewise. Why don't you and your friend join us?"

As Hermione and Neville settled into the Prefects lounge, which Percy didn't really look that happy about, Lola took out Hogwarts: A History from her trunk, knowing that it was a personal favourite of Hermione's.

Hermione eyed Lola wearily. "You like to read, then?"

Lola shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant. "It's what I'm best at. I'm so new to this world and have a lot to learn, after all."

Hermione's shoulders tensed slightly. She didn't say another word for the remainder of the journey, except for when she ordered a small pumpkin juice from the Trolley witch. Lola had a deep conversation with Percy and Neville about the current Quidditch season, her father's farming business in Romney Marsh and the endemic flora of the Scottish Highlands.

When Lola was on her way back from the rear bathroom where she had changed into her new school robes, she finally caught a glimpse of Harry and Ron. The two boys were deep in conversation, oblivious to the pair of blue eyes gazing at them with a twinkle of excitement. She slowly approached the compartment door, her whole body trembling.

"Excuse me?" she said, trying to sound much calmer than she felt. "Did you see a toad anywhere? My… um, friend… is looking for his toad." It was very difficult for Lola to act normal, considering that Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley were literally three feet away.

"Sorry," Harry said politely. "We already told your friend that we didn't see a toad. I hope he finds it."

"Yeah," said Lola awkwardly. She could see that the boys were waiting for her to turn around and leave, which she really didn't want to do. "My name is Lola by the way. Lola Allen."

She heard a sarcastic snicker and turned around to find three boys behind her.

"Nobody cares, mud-blood," said the middle one condemningly, a boy as pale as the moon and as blonde as the sun. "Get out of my way."

Lola went crimson red. Judging by the two meaty boys accompanying him, and the way his hair and nails seemed immaculately groomed, he could be no other than Draco Malfoy.

"What are you staring at?!" Draco snapped angrily. "Move!"

Lola couldn't find anything to say, so moved into Harry and Ron's compartment, followed by Draco, Crabbe and Goyle.

"Is it true?" Draco asked, staring at Harry with a mixture of hope and awe. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"

"Yes," Harry replied.

Lola suddenly remembered how this whole ordeal would end. This seemingly insignificant skirmish would result in the Golden Trio becoming enemies with Draco and his gang of Slytherins for the rest of their time at Hogwarts. Lola had to do something, and she had to do it quick.

"Are you really?!" she exclaimed, finally being able to channel her inner fangirl. It felt good. "Ohmygosh! I can't believe it! Can I get your autograph?"

Lola's behaviour threw everyone off track but unfortunately wasn't enough to change destiny. The boys still had an aggressive argument which had to do with lots of insults, scattered half-eaten sweets and one abnormally large rat.

Fifteen minutes later, Lola returned to the Prefect's lounge with slumped shoulders. Not only had she made a total fool out of herself, but she had also realised how limited her ability to change things was. Just when everything was finally beginning to feel real, Lola couldn't help but think again that this whole thing was just a stupid dream which felt really real but she had no control over.

Suddenly, the train came to a stop.

"Mind yer step, now!" The booming voice of Hagrid called out from outside the train. "Firs' years follow me!"

Lola took a deep breath as she stepped out onto a narrow platform, her lungs welcoming the crisp, evening air. She knew at that point that it was impossible for her to contain her excitement, so she didn't even try. As she joined the back of the long cue behind Hagrid the gamekeeper, Lola realised she strangely felt, all at the same time, afraid, lost, but most of all, _alive_.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you for reading! Don't forget to leave a review; ideas and criticisms much appreciated. See you next chapter!


	4. A House Joined

**A/N:** Well, I finished another chapter since yesterday, so why not upload it? Once again, thank you for all of your support. I really appreciate it. In this chapter, the sorting ceremony takes place. Stay tuned for next chapter when some turbulent times await Miss Allen.

* * *

"Abbot, Hannah!"

Lola watched Hannah nervously make her way up to the Sorting Hat, trembling uncontrollably. She momentarily thought how scary it must feel to be one of the first people in line, just before realising her own surname was –

"Allen, Lola!" McGonagall called.

Lola felt her heart skip a beat. She also felt pretty stupid. Having everyone eye her curiously as she sat down on the small, wooden stool didn't help either.

As a dedicated Harry Potter fan, Lola had wondered countless times before what House she would belong to if she were to attend Hogwarts. She had solved many quizzes in magazines and on the internet, each giving conflicting results, but most popularly indicating Ravenclaw. Lola tried to brush these thoughts off; she didn't want any of it to have an impact on the Hat's ruling. She was genuinely curious.

Suddenly, Lola was looking, not at the crowded Great Hall, but at the black inside of the Sorting Hat.

"Ah," a faint voice said inside her head. "A good brain, I see. Very determined. Observant. Studious. But no thirst for knowledge, not really… More about personal gain and a sense of superiority…"

Lola found that comment rather rude. "What else are you supposed to do with knowledge? Eat it?" she snapped inwardly.

"Now that's interesting… Very unyielding. A persistent intolerance and impatience towards criticism. Yes, surely not good enough for a Raven –"

"Excuse me," Lola thought angrily. She felt very weird having an internal battle with the voices in her head in front of about a thousand people, but she didn't care. "I didn't come all the way here to sit on a flimsy stool and be judged by an inconsiderate, inanimate object like you!"

The voice in her ear chuckled. "Oh, but that is exactly why you did, my dear!" it responded. "Judging is what I do. And back-chatting, although not ideal at Hogwarts, is indeed a show of quick wit I must admit."

Fuming, Lola waited, hearing nothing but the rumbling of her stomach for a while, until the Sorting Hat groaned with frustration.

"Where to place you… Where? Not a fair player, so no Badger for you… Not enough spine for a Slytherin either…"

"What about Ravenclaw?" Lola piqued with hope.

"Considerable. But you won't survive there. Too challenging for an idle mind like yours." Lola had to bite her tongue to avoid saying something out of line. "Nor will you be happy, either way. You may think that you're clever, but in fact, you're simply good at deduction and have an above-average memory. Unfortunately, spending hours on a puzzle for the sake of it is not your strong suit. I see no natural curiosity in you."

Lola had to admit that the account being given by the Sorting Hat did sound an awful lot like her.

"But what I do see is lots of courage," the voice continued. "And the ability to stand up for what you believe in. The question is, how far are you willing to go for it…?"

Lola considered the question. The answer was clear to her. "Not as much as a Slytherin, if that's what you're wondering."

Though she didn't know how, Lola felt the Hat smile. "Well, then. It is sorted. You are a GRYFFINDOR!"

The table to the far left erupted with loud clapping and cheering, as Lola Allen became the first Gryffindor that year.

As she climbed down the stool, took the Hat off and thanked Professor McGonagall, Lola tried to process what had just happened. The conversation she had with the Sorting Hat went nothing like what she had imagined it would go. The Hat was blunt, maybe too blunt considering not everyone there that day possessed a great deal of self-confidence. But more surprising than anything, the Hat had read Lola like nobody else had before.

"I thought you wanted to be in Ravenclaw," Percy said as Lola collapsed next to him at the Gryffindor table, looking somewhat amused.

"Changed my mind," Lola replied impassively. She was certainly not in the mood for recounting the Sorting Hat's remarks.

Percy gave Lola a calculating look but didn't press any further.

They watched the rest of the sorting ceremony, clapping whenever they heard "Gryffindor!" and quietly booing whenever the Hat ruled "Slytherin!". When Harry's name was announced, everyone at the table started chattering.

"Potter – _that_ Potter?"

"Is it really him?"

"Which one is he?!"

" _The_ Harry Potter?

"– sit down Stewart! Can't see him…"

"Would be great to have Potter in Gryffindor," Percy murmured, getting a few nods from the table.

"Oh yeah? And what are the odds of that?" snickered a boy with dark brown hair and hazel eyes from across the table.

"Well, _Kenneth_ ," Percy said pompously. "If you had read Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century, you would know that Potter comes from a long line of Gryffindors –"

"We all know that family history doesn't mean a thing when it comes to Houses," Kenneth Towler responded quickly. "Even twins get put in different Houses sometimes. And for the last time, it's _Ken_! You don't see me calling you Percival..."

"But defeating Who He Must Not Be Named," said a tall girl with long black hair. "That takes courage, no?"

"He was a baby then, Angelina," Ken replied. "You're giving him too much credit."

"What do you reckon, then," asked the girl sitting next to Angelina, Katie Bell, as she fiddled with her brown hair mischievously. She obviously liked Ken. "Where will Potter go?"

Ken looked back at Harry, who was still sitting with the Sorting Hat on his head. "I reckon Slytherin."

Lola felt Percy gasp next to her. "What makes you say that? Of all the people who belong in Slytherin in this room, Harry Potter is surely not on that list!"

"Well, how do you know? Have you met him? Has anyone here met him?" He looked around the table demandingly. "He could be the evilest bastard for all we know. But to defeat someone like Who He Must Not Be Named as a _baby,_ you have to be his equal I say. I'd be damned if Potter doesn't end up with the Slytherin lot."

Lola put on her best poker face. "I agree with Percy. But if you're so sure about it, do you want to make a bet?" she asked Ken directly.

Ken started at Lola, trying to determine the source of her confidence. Then he shrugged. "Sure. 2 Galleons on Slytherin."

Everyone at the table quickly pledged their alliance to either Ken or Lola. A moment after –

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The smirk on Ken's smug face vanished immediately. Katie gave him an apologetic look.

"Pay up, everybody!" Lola said merrily as Harry Potter joined their table. She was finally beginning to enjoy her time at Hogwarts.

Lola was starving by the time the ceremony ended and food magically appeared at their table. She helped herself to everything that didn't contain meat and listened to Neville talk about his family as she ate.

"– they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great Uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad," he was saying.

"And you, Lola?" Ronald Weasley, who was sitting in front of her, asked her.

Lola tried hard not to choke from being caught so off-guard. She took a sip of pumpkin juice and cleared her throat before she spoke.

It was going to be tricky to not reveal her actual story.

"Not much. My father is a farmer, and my mother used to be a primary school teacher but she quit her job when my little sister was born to take care of her. The letter came so unexpectedly, can't say any of us were expecting it. But Professor McGonagall handled everything so professionally and I found myself here!" She could feel the heat radiating from her cheeks as she blushed from all the attention.

"Hear, hear," Seamus Finnigan exclaimed. Lola raised her glass at him before taking another sip.

Suddenly, she heard Harry go "Ouch!" as he clapped a hand to his head.

"What is it?" asked Percy worriedly.

"N-nothing." Harry replied. "Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" he then asked Percy.

Lola followed Harry's gaze and her eyes fell upon a thin man with oily black hair, a large, hooked nose and very dark, penetrating eyes. Percy went on to explain who Professor Snape was.

"There's something about him, isn't there?" Lola asked Harry.

Harry nodded quickly and went back to his treacle tart without another word. Lola couldn't be sure if it was because he was distraught by the mere presence of Snape or because he still remembered their weird exchange on the Hogwarts Express, but she was almost certain that Harry Potter was intentionally avoiding her.

"And finally," Dumbledore was saying when Lola snapped out of her reverie about why The Boy Who Lived might be ignoring her. "I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

A few people, including Harry, laughed nervously. Lola felt all blood drain from her entire body. How could she forget… The stone! Fluffy! But that meant...

Voldemort!

Her eyes widened as she realised the extent of her knowledge. She had more awareness and understanding of everything that was happening, than anyone else who surrounded her that evening, and amongst about a thousand people, Lola found that for the first time in her life she felt completely alone.

And then, Lola saw something which made her blood curdle. Quirinus Quirrell was eyeing her from across the High Table with an unreadable expression on his face.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks a bunch for reading. Consider leaving a review if you liked/disliked the chapter. See you again in the next chapter, hopefully!


	5. A Plan Made

**A/N:** Thank you so much for your kind reviews! Know that I appreciate them deeply, and work extra hard when I read them. Also, thank you for favouriting and following the story; hopefully, it will be worth your while! In this chapter, Lola attempts to make a fresh start but doesn't realise that there is a heinous plan being made against her... Stay tuned for next chapter, when Lola gets in some serious trouble!

* * *

The long corridor was faintly illuminated by rays of weak moonlight creeping in through two small windows. It was completely deserted except for the tall, pale figure of a young man wearing black robes and a purple turban, followed only by his own shadow. The man looked up and down the hallway cautiously before entering one of the empty classrooms along the corridor.

Quirinus Quirrell pointed his alder-wood wand at the doorknob and murmured "Colloportus". The heavy classroom door sealed itself shut after a quiet thud. He then pointed the wand at himself, muttering "Cave inimicum!". A white aura momentarily traced the outline of his slender figure before disappearing.

Quirrell proceeded to undo his turban. "We are alone now, Master," he said into nothingness. "You can speak freely."

"Tell me again…" whispered a voice that came from Quirrell, though his lips had not moved at all. "What you saw…"

"I was watching Harry Potter –" (the mystery voice hissed at the boy's name) "As you ordered, Master. I was using Legilimency to see if the boy had any knowledge of our plans or any other useful information. He does not suspect us, much like Dumbledore."

"Yesss…" the voice wheezed contentedly.

"But then I saw the girl… The girl next to Potter… She looked at me like she knew. At first, I assumed she was after Severus, Potter was asking about him you see, but then she stared right into my eyes."

"And…? Did you peak into her mind…?" said the voice, sounding impatient.

"That's the thing!" Quirrell exclaimed, more to himself than to the voice. "I tried. But it was like trying to read an empty book. No matter how hard I concentrated, I could not penetrate her mind!" Quirrell's frustration was evident from the way his voice cracked with fury. "How… How is it possible?"

"She is protected…" the voice whispered softly. "By whom, I know not…"

Quirrell collapsed into a nearby chair, looking defeated. "What do you wish from your servant, Master?" he asked, nonetheless. "What should be my next step?"

There was a momentary pause, before the voice whispered a very devious, shrewd plan.

* * *

Lola had never shared a bedroom with anyone else before.

When the doctor announced that Lola was going to be a girl, her father had built a separate bedroom for her so that she wouldn't have to share one with her brother. But because it was initially designed for a baby, Lola's room had always been small, but just enough, for the entirety of her life. Still, it had always been just her. Even when her little sister Leona was born when Lola was eight-years-old, she had also gotten a separate room built for her. Lola always thought she was lucky for being able to have a room all to herself, as her best friend Ellie had to share hers with her older sister.

Now that Lola had four roommates, she realised what she had been missing out on all these years. The whole concept almost felt like a slumber party, except nobody would have to go home in the morning. They could gossip all night, talk about their crushes, play dress-up or even practice magic. And there would be no nosy parents around to tell them to go to bed.

For the first time since everything began unfolding, Lola felt glad for being in her eleven-year-old form.

Hermione, who was assigned the bed to Lola's immediate left, did not look as pleased about this arrangement at all. She quickly emptied the contents of her trunk, picked up a book from the mini-library that she carried around with her and made her way back downstairs to the common room without saying another word.

"Hi!" a friendly girl with brown hair and warm, blue eyes approached Lola after Hermione left. She was the owner of the bed to the right of Lola's, and extended a hand out as she spoke. "My name is Fay. I thought I'd introduce myself as we're going to be classmates now – and roommates!"

Lola smiled as she shook the girl's hand. "Nice thinking. I'm Lola. Nice to meet you."

"Back at you," she winked and went back to tiding her belongings.

In the following half an hour, Lola met her other two roommates, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. The two had become best friends already, as they seemed to have a lot in common. By midnight, Lola was done unpacking and felt really exhausted. She let her body fall back onto her new, velvety soft bed.

"So," Fay said a few minutes later as she climbed into bed. "Are you excited about tomorrow?"

"I guess so…" Lola lied. She knew that having to face Quirrell, or Snape for that matter, without a solid plan didn't really arouse 'excitement' in her.

"Well, I know I am!" Fay exclaimed. "Especially about the Flying lessons. I love Quidditch, you see, and can't wait to learn how to use a broom properly. My brother taught me how to fly but he's not very good himself. He got denied onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team four times in a row so far."

"Wow," Lola whistled, in awe. "That's an achievement."

Fay chuckled. "Yeah. I admire his perseverance."

"Are you going to try your luck?" enquired Lola.

"Maybe next year, when we get to bring our own brooms to Hogwarts. And when I develop enough skill to qualify, of course. Hopefully." She sounded nervous and tugged her hair vigorously as she spoke.

"I'm sure you'll do great. Madam Hooch is a great teacher," Lola said compassionately.

Fay sat up quickly, looking awakened. "How do you know that?! Have you met her already? What does she look like?! What did she say to you?! Is she nice?"

"Um…" Lola said quickly, trying not to panic. "It's just – it's just what I heard through the grapevine…"

Thankfully, a spent looking Hermione entered the dormitory right at that moment.

"Hey," she said quietly as she opened her wardrobe. "Hope I didn't disturb…"

"Not at all," Lola said warmly.

Hermione nodded and walked into the bathroom with her pyjamas in hand.

"Is it just me," Fay whispered at a volume only Lola could hear. "Or does she get weird around you?"

"Really?" Lola replied, surprised. "You think so?"

Before Fay could say anything, Hermione came out of the bathroom.

"Goodnight, guys," she said before she clambered into bed and turned her bedside lamp off.

Fay shrugged, looking baffled.

They chatted for a little while longer, mainly about the differences between a Muggle upbringing and a Magical upbringing. When they got a few dirty looks from Parvati, who didn't seem to appreciate their post-midnight chatter, they wished each other a good night's sleep and drew their curtains respectively.

Not long after, Lola surrendered herself into her first long and sweet slumber at Hogwarts. The last thought that crossed her mind before her eyelids closed shut was why both Harry Potter and Hermione Granger seemed to avoid her like the plague. "Huh," she thought to herself sleepily. "Maybe I should try my luck with Ron instead…"

* * *

Lola woke up to a beautiful morning.

Though she hadn't gotten much sleep on the night of her first day, she felt amazing. The golden rays of dawn crept in through the scarlet and gold curtains covering the two huge bay windows. Birds chirped merrily, filling Lola with warmth and hope. She felt as though nothing could ruin her day.

Knowing she probably wouldn't have time afterwards, she brushed her teeth and took a quick shower. She then braided her hair and wore a plain, buttoned shirt with Gryffindor's gold and scarlet striped tie under her black robes. After putting on a pair of grey socks and wearing her shiny black shoes, she took a moment in front of the mirror to appreciate how fresh she felt in her new and soft clothes. Finally, she attached the huge Gryffindor crest to the front of her robes, feeling proud as she did.

Lola was finally ready to make a great first impression. "Or perhaps a second one," she thought to herself as she remembered Harry and Hermione.

It took a while to find her way back down to the Great Hall. Lola could swear the entire castle was alive, from its staircases to its conventional portraits to the coats of armour at every corner. She made it a mental note to study the map that she had bought from Flourish and Blotts. Being as bad at navigation as she was, there was no way for her to go from A to B without getting terribly lost otherwise.

She noticed three things immediately when she entered the Great Hall. The first thing was how everyone was looking at Harry Potter, whispering unintelligibly. The second was how uncomfortable he looked about it. And the third thing was how, apart from Ronald Weasley, everyone had been too scared to sit anywhere near him.

As Lola approached Harry, she saw a first-year Hufflepuff girl directly point at Harry as she leaned into her friend's ear to say something.

Lola stopped dead in her tracks. "Is there a problem?" she asked the girl directly.

Everyone within a ten feet radius turned around, including Harry and Ron, to see what was going on.

The girl, whose name was Megan Jones, scratched her head as she blushed crimson. "N – no," she muttered quietly.

"Then I guess there's no reason for you to point and whisper behind anyone's back, right?" Lola pressed.

Megan looked incredibly embarrassed. She looked at Harry with doe-like eyes and muttered an apology before she turned back to her breakfast.

No one else would bother Harry Potter for the remainder of that morning.

Lola sat next to Harry, though leaving him considerable space. "Thank you," Harry said a while later, as Lola was loading her plate with scrambled eggs. "You didn't have to do that."

Lola shrugged, trying to hide how elated she felt to have finally gotten the attention of the Boy Who Lived. "I would want someone to say something if the same was being done to me, so…" she said coolly.

Harry looked at Ron, who seemed impressed. "We didn't get to fully introduce ourselves to you. I'm Harry… Harry Potter," he said. Lola refrained herself from saying "I know!", and nodded instead.

"Ron Weasley," added Ron from across Harry.

"Nice to meet you both," said Lola impassively.

They ate in silence until Harry and Ron began talking about Chocolate Frog Cards.

Thirty minutes later, as the three of them were trying to find the Astronomy Tower for their first lesson of the year, they ended up at the last place that they were supposed to be.

"It's beyond this door!" Ron exclaimed as he tried to push his way through a wooden door on the third-floor corridor. "It's the one that Fred and George told me about. I'm sure of it!"

Lola thought about using Alohamora, only if she knew how to cast it.

That is exactly when Filch the caretaker, and his side-kick Mrs. Norris, found them.

"What are you three weasels doing here?" he grunted, licking his lips. He looked like a hungry lion cornering its prey.

"Trying to get to the Astronomy Tower," Harry said.

"Of course…" Filch said dangerously. "Except that door your friend is trying to bust open is out-of-bounds to all students!"

Ron stopped trying immediately.

"We didn't know, I swear!" Lola said at once. "We're lost!"

"Sure you are," said Filch, with a wide smirk that revealed his grossly rotten teeth. "You'll all feel even more lost when I lock you in the dungeons, sure you will… Come with me now, before I get Professor McGonagall over here."

"Is the – there a p – p – problem here?" someone asked behind them, stuttering. Lola turned around to find Quirrell standing right behind her.

It was funny how that one simple sentence seemed to have a tremendously significant impact on Lola's life that morning.

"These three were trying to sneak into the forbidden room, Professor," Filch said quickly. He reminded Lola of that one kid in class who enjoyed snitching on other people's wrong-doings. "I caught them in the act, you see."

"We were lost, Professor Quirrell," Harry complained defensively. "We thought this was the door leading up to the Astronomy Tower!"

"I'm going to kill Fred and George when I see them," Ron muttered under his breath.

"I will h – h – handle it fr – from here, F – Filch, thank you," said Quirrell.

Filch, who didn't look too pleased about the arrangement, turned on his heels and left.

Quirrell's eyes searched Lola's face for a second too long, before he stammered "You three sh – should be more c – careful where you're going. You d – don't want to get in t – t – trouble."

Harry nodded seriously. "Thank you Professor. Do you know the way to the Astronomy Tower?"

Quirrell proceeded to give them simple directions that would eventually take them to their destination.

Lola couldn't help but feel extremely uneasy as she realised, under that innocent-looking turban, was hidden none other than Lord Voldemort himself. She wondered whether it was a huge coincidence that Quirinus Quirrell just happened to be passing by the third-floor corridor that morning.

As Quirrell watched Lola's retreating back, he wondered the exact same thing about her. Could she possibly know what was behind that door…?

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks a lot for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. See you next chapter, which will be very soon!


	6. A Trap Set

**A/N:** Thank you for leaving such kind reviews! And to everyone who liked and followed: I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. It is the best feeling ever to know that people are interested in a story that you are authoring. Words fail me. Thank you so much! In this chapter, things get pretty intense. You'll know what I mean once you read it. Stay tuned for next chapter, because Lola will be in grave danger and she needs all the support she can get.

* * *

"Professor Quirrell!" called a woman in red robes with a matching pointed hat.

Quirrell looked up from the stack of papers covering his desk to find the Arithmancy Professor standing at the entrance to the Staffroom.

"W – w – what is it, P – Professor Vector," he replied at once.

"Are you not coming to the staff meeting? We can walk together if you'd like," offered Septima Vector as she tried hard not to blush.

She was a widowed woman with no family of her own and was ready to open her heart to somebody once again. To her, with his cute stutter and reserved shyness, Quirinus Quirrell was the perfect candidate.

Quirrell faked a heavy sigh. "Unfortunately n – not. I need to finish m – m – marking these by t – tomorrow morning."

Professor Vector pouted with disappointment. "That's a shame," she said. "Do take a break though, Quirinus. You seem really tired these days. You wouldn't want to burn yourself out."

She winked playfully and left the room, closing the door behind her. What she had failed to realise, though, was that every single paper on Quirrell's desk was already marked.

"Stupid woman," moaned Quirrell as he locked the door behind her and walked over to the stone fireplace at the back of the room.

He was not going to the staff meeting that evening, not because he had essays to attend to, but because it was finally time to neutralise a potential enemy.

Quirrell picked up a dash of Floo powder from a nearby table, walked inside the fireplace, threw the powder into the blaze and yelled "Diagon Alley!". The fire roared loudly before tall, emerald flames consumed his body whole and Quirinus Quirrell vanished out of sight.

* * *

That particular Wednesday morning, Lola had found it difficult to wake up on time.

None of her roommates had tried to get her up, probably because they didn't want to disturb her. She rushed to the bathroom to put on her uniform and bring her unruly hair under control. She was definitely going to miss breakfast.

At five past nine, Lola was the last person to enter the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. When the whole class turned around to look at her, she muttered a quiet apology to Professor Quirrell.

"N – no worries," stammered Quirrell strangely. "Have a s – s – seat."

Lola sat next to Fay, who had saved her a seat.

"N – now that we are all h – h – here, we can start t – today's activity."

Quirrell told them to draw out their wands and place it on their desks. With the prospect of performing actual magic in their minds, the group of excited first-year students obliged at once.

Quirrell went on to randomly pick up wands from a few of the tables, including Lola's. He started to explain the different properties of wands, like the woods and the cores, and the impact these had on the many abilities of a wand. When he told them to note down these abilities, everyone got to writing – except for Hermione.

"Sorry – sir?" she raised her hand but spoke without waiting to be given permission. "This topic was not listed in our curriculum. Is there a chance it will come up on the final exam?"

Quirrell stiffened momentarily, before telling Hermione to simply do as he had told.

At the end of the lesson, Quirrell returned Lola her wand. Every time she looked up at Quirrell, Lola felt the urge to run for the hills. She wanted to speak to Dumbledore, to explain what she knew, but there were a few problems with that.

Firstly, would Dumbledore even believe her? He was a genius, an extraordinary thinker, but how could she make a man many years her senior believe that he and everyone around him were characters from her favourite book series? Though Lola knew the truth, even to her it sounded insane.

Secondly, she was scared of how much this would change the future – or how little. On one hand, interfering with everything so early on would completely alter the history of the Wizarding World typed up by J. K. Rowling, and Lola wasn't sure how she felt about that; probably scared. For now, she had the advantage of knowing how everything was going to turn out, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to give that up. On the other hand, knowing about Voldemort's secrets, Lola knew it would be impossible for Dumbledore to do anything about Voldemort being alive without destroying all seven Horcruxes. Even if she interfered now or later, Voldemort would still find a way to return and take over the Wizarding World. Hence, she had to come up with a solid, well-thought-out plan.

And finally, Lola was afraid of the implications such an interference would have on _her_. What if such a drastic change broke the rules of whatever agreement she had made with fate to be in the Harry Potter universe? She, of course, had no way of knowing this without trying, but she hadn't been there for long and wasn't ready to leave just yet.

Lola had a lot to consider before she could finally decide on knocking on Dumbledore's door, but the day had yet to come.

She walked back to the Gryffindor common room with Harry, Ron, Seamus, Dean and Fay. The boys were talking animatedly about the strange garlic smell surrounding the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

"I am a bit disappointed we didn't get to actually _use_ our wands," Fay was saying to Lola as they walked past a swarm of Ravenclaw girls. "But we have Charms next, and Flitwick did say in our last lesson that we would start practicing wrist movements next – how exciting!"

Their lesson with Flitwick turned out to be a blast. They mostly focused on the diction of spells but did get to practice with their wands during the last ten minutes of the lesson, which was very fun. For some reason, Hermione was acting colder than ever towards Lola. When Lola had asked her what time is was during the lesson, she had glared at Lola before saying she didn't know. When Neville had asked the same question five minutes later, though, Hermione had told him that it was quarter to three.

Though Lola didn't think much of it, Fay was convinced that she had seen Hermione secretly snort when Flitwick praised Lola's perfect pronunciation of the Levitation Charm.

When they arrived at the Great Hall for dinner after an exhausting Transfiguration session, they were approached by Percy.

"Hey!" he greeted Lola, then turned to Fay. "You're Fay Dunbar, right? Professor Quirrell wants to see you in his office right away." He walked off briskly to talk to Oliver Wood about the upcoming Quidditch elections.

Fay looked at Lola with a confused expression on her face. "What's this about?" she said anxiously. "Do you think I did something wrong?"

"One way to find out…" Lola muttered casually, though she did have a bad feeling about it.

Fifteen minutes later, as Lola was halfway through her meal and in deep conversation with Ron, Fay returned with a dreamy expression on her face.

"So, what did he want?" Lola asked apprehensively as Fay sat down next to her.

"Oh, nothing," Fay brushed it off, sounding very calm. "He said I left my notebook in class and told me to pick it up tomorrow."

Lola raised an eyebrow. "Couldn't he give it to you there and then?"

Fay shrugged as she began loading her plate with roast potatoes. "Dunno. I'm so hungry though," she said tranquilly.

Lola was almost sure Fay didn't have a notebook with her that morning. Then again, she had been late to class, so maybe there were things that she had missed. Not wanting to read too much into it, she returned to her food with a quick nod.

That night, Lola didn't sleep too comfortably and woke up in the middle of the night.

With each passing day, she knew that Quirrell, hence Voldemort, was getting closer to the stone. She knew that she had to do something about it. There had been an idea circulating her consciousness right before she fell asleep. Lola had been thinking of how hard it would be to convince Dumbledore of Quirrell's aims, as he did not suspect him at all, before realising that there was someone who actually _did_ suspect him.

Snape!

Not only was he already on Quirrell's trail, but Severus Snape seemed more approachable than Dumbledore, who she hardly saw. They would have a double potions lesson tomorrow, which would be the perfect opportunity for Lola to approach the potions master to talk about what she knew. Lola was sure that he would know what to do with the information that she had, and she could try and come up with excuses about how she knew what she knew.

Feeling way more relieved, she closed her eyes and dozed off back to sleep. But a few hours later, she had to wake up again to get ready for their second Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson.

As she was fixing her tie, Fay came out of the bathroom looking like a mess. "Morning," she said serenely. "Can I use your brush? I can't find mine."

"Sure," Lola said as she passed Fay her hairbrush. "You better hurry up. You don't want to miss breakfast."

Fay nodded slowly and returned to the bathroom.

After breakfast, Lola made her way to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom with Harry and Ron, in this instance right on time. She was surprised to find Fay sitting in the classroom all alone, humming an unfamiliar tune to herself.

"Why didn't you come down to breakfast?" Lola asked as she took a seat next to Fay. "I was waiting for you."

"Wasn't hungry," Fay said coolly. "Must've eaten too much yesterday."

Professor Quirrell seemed very cheerful that day, and they had an excellent lesson about Doxies. Everyone was still talking about the small, fairy-like creatures when they returned to the Great Hall for lunch. A handsome barn owl registered to Hogwarts landed next to Lola's goblet moments later, a small envelope tied to its leg.

Lola tore open the envelope to find a note within written by Professor Flitwick.

 **"Dear Miss Allen;**

 **I was very impressed with your exemplary performance during our lesson yesterday, and would, therefore, like to formally offer you regular one-on-one lessons every few times a week. I know a student with great potential when I see one, and it would be a huge waste to not put it to use. Come to Classroom 22b after dinner tonight at about 7 pm, where we can have a trial session. To avoid issues related to the sensitivities of certain students, I would strongly advise you to keep this offer strictly between us until further notice. You can tell your friends that you will be visiting the library.**

 **See you tonight,**

 **Filius Flitwick."**

Lola gasped with surprise. She had not expected such kind comments from Professor Flitwick, and frankly, she was beyond honoured. Lola had always been branded as a 'good student' throughout her student-hood but had never been approached with such an offer by any of her teachers.

Lola read the letter again, making sure to hide it from curious eyes. 'Sensitivities of certain students'… He was probably talking about Hermione, Lola rationed, who she was sure had not received the same offer.

When three-thirty rolled around, Lola made her way to the grounds with rest of the Gryffindors and Slytherins where they would have their first flying lesson. To say that she was nervous would be a massive understatement. Lola was terrified.

So far, she had not produced any magic and did not have any recollection of proof that she was a magical witch. She was scared of making a total fool out of herself or falling down from her broom mid-flight.

In contrast, Fay was almost jumping up and down with excitement. Her inexplicably strange behaviour had now subsided, which pleased Lola immensely and she smiled whole-heartedly as she watched her friend laugh with joy.

 _Her best friend._

In many ways, Fay had reminded Lola of her best friend Ellie. Physically, they looked nothing alike, but from the way they both liked to talk a lot, to the way they both liked sport (Ellie was on the female soccer team of their high-school), Lola felt complete when she was with Fay.

The flying lesson went better than Lola thought it would. Both Lola's and Fay's brooms obeyed at once when they stuck their right hand over them and shouted: "Up!". They didn't get to test their flying skills, however, as Neville got injured badly and got scurried away by Madam Hooch. Lola could do nothing as she watched Draco and Harry fight over his Remembrall, and felt furious as he saw the triumphant faces of all the Slytherins as a shocked Professor McGonagall walked away, followed by Harry who looked petrified.

She knew she shouldn't have, but she couldn't help herself. "Don't get too happy," Lola warned the Slytherins. "He who laughs last laughs best."

At that time, no one could tell what she had meant by that.

But the news of Harry's recruitment onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team had spread like wildfire by dinnertime. The Great Hall was drowned by the opinionated babbles of hundreds of students from every single House. Some were happy for him, while others, like Fay, were envious.

"He is a brilliant flier though," Fay said quietly between mouthfuls. "Never seen anything like it."

Lola didn't reply, as she had just heard Hermione's voice.

"- and you mustn't go wandering around the school at night," she was saying with concern. "Think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're bound to be. It's really very selfish of you."

Lola remembered what this was about; Malfoy had just dared Harry to a Wizard's Duel. It would be a huge trap for Filch to catch them out and about during curfew.

"I agree with Hermione," Lola said quickly, startling all three of them. They hadn't realised that Lola was eavesdropping. "You can't risk getting caught."

For the first time since they met, Hermione gave Lola a genuine smile.

"We know how to be careful," Harry said to them.

Ron backed Harry up. "This also doesn't concern neither of you, does it?" He then looked back at Hermione, who stood right behind them with a look of deadly fury. "Goodbye to you."

When Lola finished her food, she lingered on a little longer to chat with Parvati and Seamus about double potions with Slytherin tomorrow, which neither of them was looking forward to.

"I heard he's nasty," Seamus said with a hushed tone.

Parvati nodded enthusiastically. "They say he always defends his House no matter what."

Lola was actually looking forward to potions tomorrow. She would finally be able to share some of her secrets, and actively do something to hinder Voldemort's evil plans. Strangely, thinking of Snape gave her hope.

It was almost 7 pm, so Lola told Fay that there was a Charms book that she wanted to check out at the library before it closed and left quickly to find Classroom 22b.

When she finally found her way and entered the classroom, she saw that not Professor Flitwick, but Professor Quirrell waiting for her. Lola heard the door close shut behind her. She had instantly grasped what was happening, but it was too late to do anything about it.

"Stupefy!" Quirrell screeched.

The last thing that Lola Allen saw before she fell to the ground, was a jet of red light coming towards her.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you for reading! And as always, don't forget to leave a review. They make me happy :-) See you next chapter!


	7. A Child Cursed

**A/N:** I feel like I am repeating myself to death, but I really appreciate the support and the reviews. I take every single one into account as I write this story, and they are also my fuel during dark times. So please, do leave a review! In this chapter, we start to piece together what happened while Lola was unconscious. Stay tuned for next chapter, when Lola will have to deal with the aftermath of everything.

* * *

Lola fought, with every single cell in her body, to lift up her eyelids.

The blackness over her eyes slowly faded as she began to regain consciousness. It took a while for her to adjust to the hues of bright sunlight shining directly into her eyes but eventually, her hazy sight gained focus. She panicked for a moment, realising she couldn't move any part of her body, before her temporary paralysis dissolved and she slowly managed to sit up on the floor.

She was completely alone in the empty classroom. A dozen desks and chairs were stacked up against the walls and there were scribbles written on the blackboard that she couldn't quite make out. There were pieces of parchment paper all over the desks and the floor that people had written on or walked over.

Lola's eyes widened as she remembered the events of last night. She quickly got up on her two feet, feeling dizzy as she did.

She was still wearing her school robes from the night before, and her wand was still in her pocket, which surprised her. But the letter that Quirrell had sent her was gone.

She quickly walked over to the door, but of course, it was locked. She knocked on the door with all her might, screaming for help, not knowing that the entire room was under the influence of a pretty strong silencing charm. She even tried to use Alohamora, but to no avail.

When she had first found that the classroom windows were unlocked, a short-lived grin had set on her face, before she realised quickly that she was on the second floor of a seven-storey high building. She knew without a doubt that she would rather be stuck in an empty classroom forever than to fall to her death.

While she ran around the room frantically, trying to formulate an exit strategy, a part of her brain began wondering what had happened since the night before. The last thing she remembered was being stunned by Quirrell, who, for some reason, had resorted to trap her in a random room in Hogwarts rather than kill her on the spot. Lola was sure that both Quirrell and Voldemort would take great pleasure in watching her lifeless body fall on the floor.

 _So why was she still alive?_

The same reason why they hadn't been able to kill Harry must have been the reason, thought Lola; their fear of Dumbledore. It was simple enough to figure out, but could it also be that they needed her alive for some other reason…?

A horrified Lola stared at her own reflection in one of the windows; were they planning to use her as a pawn to succeed in their evil plans? Wipe her memory, place her under something like the Imperius curse, make Lola their slave?

Was she going to be the Ginny Weasley of this story?

Tears started welling up in Lola's eyes, she was so close to breaking down on the floor and weeping helplessly. Out of all the people at Hogwarts to be captured by the Dark Lord, why her? This was not the way things were supposed to go for her…

She instantly regretted not going to Dumbledore at once. Could it be a coincidence that, just as she was planning to open up to Snape in the morning, she got kidnapped? Quirrell must have suspected her, one way or another, because of the way she acted around him or maybe even through reading her mind.

A tiny surge of hope filled Lola's chest; maybe Quirrell hadn't been the only person to read Lola's mind! Maybe, just maybe, someone would realise what was going on and come to her rescue.

When she stared at the blazing morning sun illuminating the whole world, she knew that, on the inside, that wasn't going to happen. Lola had probably already been in this room for about 12 hours, and nobody had found her yet…

Lola gazed outside the open window longingly. It was such a beautiful day outside, hundreds of vibrant flowers covering the sloping lawns of the extensive Hogwarts grounds. The mysterious Forbidden Forest stood with all its might, next to the endless Great Lake which perfectly reflected the pristine morning sky. Hundreds of owls flew in and out of sight, possibly preparing to deliver the morning mail, performing a strange choreography with other birds in the sky.

Suddenly, Lola had a lightbulb moment. She quickly moved away from the window, wondering whether her plan would be possible to carry out. She looked around the room, searching every nook and cranny to see what she had to work with.

Two minutes later, she realised she didn't have much. But all she really needed was a piece of parchment, heaps of which were scattered all across the room, her wand, which she conveniently carried in her pocket, and lastly, a little bit of blood.

* * *

Severus had received many strange letters through owl post before.

Being part of a cult such as the Death Eaters back in the day, he would get sent some disturbing letters by fellow colleagues who either revered him with respect or despised him with a passion. When he became a Hogwarts professor, he was surprised to find that he had begun to receive _even more_ disturbing packages, this time from angry parents who believed that he was 'abusing' their children. They were, of course, very wrong. He was almost doing charity work, trying to teach the spoilt and worthless imps being thrown his way by parents too brainless to realise their little Jimmy was a waste of space.

But Severus had never received a letter written by a deranged eleven-year-old, who had used her own blood as ink, claiming to be taken hostage by a "force to be reckoned with".

He considered the possibility that the letter was a moronic prank designed by one of the insufferable brats he had the misfortune to teach, but judging by the tear stains and the shaky scribble smearing the wrinkled parchment, and the fact that it was signed by name, made this very unlikely.

This was clearly a deluded child with severe mental issues.

The real question was, why had she thought that Severus would give a damn?

Severus walked over to the bin, wanting to throw away the useless piece of parchment, but hesitation flickered briefly in his eyes. Would he be liable if the mentally disturbed girl did something stupid? Probably...

He instead walked over to his desk and checked what house the girl was in from his attendance sheet. "Of course," he snickered sardonically when he read the information. "Nothing good ever comes out of Gryffindor, anyway."

He briskly made his way out of the dungeons, letter in hand. He was going to find Minerva, let her deal with it, and move on with his life like nothing ever happened.

* * *

Lola was having difficulty stopping the flow of blood from her wrist.

When she had seen the owls passing by the window, she had come up with a stupid, but desperate, idea. The only way for her to communicate with the outside world would be through owl post. Knowing that she was in a classroom, she had immediately looked around to see if there was a quill or some ink laying around but quickly realised that she was going to have to improvise a little bit.

She had flinched nervously right before her fist came down on the huge glass window, but to her surprise, it had been much easier to break than she had initially thought. Tears had rolled out of her eyes as she had made the vertical cut on her left wrist, making sure not to go too deep into her skin. She had used the tip of her wand to dip into the pool of blood that had now formed on the desk and had authored a quick letter addressed to someone she had never thought, in a million years, she would ask for help.

When she had whistled at the owls, none of them had wanted to come around. They had already picked up parcels from the owlery and couldn't be bothered with Lola. Just as she was about to give up, a snowy white owl with groomed talons had begun flying towards the broken window.

"Good boy!" Lola had cheered, not knowing that the owl was female. She had then watched the owl fly away, Lola's urgent letter in its mouth.

Her sense of victory had quickly subsided, though, when she had realised that she was going to have major difficulty trying to stop the blood pouring out of her wrist.

"I hope he comes soon," Lola thought nervously, taking off her tie and wrapping it around her wrist tightly. "I'm doomed otherwise…"

* * *

It hadn't taken long, finding Minerva, but to Severus' surprise, she approached him first.

"Good!" Minerva exclaimed when she saw Severus. "That was quick."

She had sent the Gryffindor Head Boy, Pierce Cunningham, to go down to the dungeons, find Severus and explain to him what was going. He would then, hopefully, help with the search of Lola Allen.

A confused expression crossed Severus' prominent features, but before he could speak, Minerva continued.

"We need to be quick, Severus," she said urgently, pressing her fingers against her temple. "Cornelius is on his way and we must find her by the time he comes."

What? "Cornelius? What for?"

"The expulsion procedure, of course! And obviously, she is on the list of juvenile offenders now…"

Minerva was clearly under the impression that they were both on the same page, which Severus realised was not true. "Who?" he asked with a frown.

"Who else?!" Minerva cried out in frustration. "Lola Allen!"

 _Oh no_ , thought Severus. He must've been too late.

Quickly, he ventured into Minerva's mind. She was under the impression that Severus had been briefed by the Gryffindor Head Boy. Unfortunately, that hadn't been the case, as Severus had hastily left his office to give away the disturbing letter that he had received that morning.

 _The letter…_ It would probably be best if Severus kept that to himself. And since there would be no way for him to explain how he knew that Lola Allen was in Classroom 22b, he decided to keep that information to himself as well.

He wondered what the girl must've done for the Minister of Magic to be involved.

"Albus is out of town, so we're on our own pretty much. We tried using a locating charm, but nothing came up. None of the portraits saw her except for the Fat Lady and no one has a clue where she might be. We have Hagrid, Pomona and Kettleburn searching the grounds but I doubt she would dare go anywhere near the Forbidden Forest."

"What happened, exactly?" Severus asked casually as they began to check all classrooms one by one.

Minerva sighed heavily. She didn't look happy at all. "This morning, four Gryffindor girls claimed that their roommate, Lola Allen, used the Cruciatus curse on one of the other girls, Fay Dunbar."

Severus stopped dead in his tracks. Minerva, who was walking in front of him, did not notice.

The Cruciatus curse? Severus had to admit that was a bit extreme for an eleven-year-old. How could a first-year student manage to cast one of the Unforgivables? Mentally unstable or not, such a spell required intense training and a deep understanding of magic.

Severus would know.

"Are we absolutely certain that's what happened?" Severus asked cynically. "Children do lie frequently."

Minerva shook her head dejectedly. "There were three witnesses. We extracted their memories of the event and watched it back in the Pensieve. Unfortunately, it's true… You don't even need a Pensieve, though. One look at Miss Dunbar's devastated face, and you can see, really."

Severus had the feeling there was something more to this story. Such a thing had never happened at Hogwarts before because it was simply impossible. Even when the biggest psychopaths in history attended Hogwarts, such as the Dark Lord and his personal pet Bellatrix, no such incident had ever taken place.

 _A force to be reckoned with…_ Severus briefly considered the possibility that the girl might have been telling the truth all along. Slowly but surely, he was developing an inkling sense of what might have happened that morning and he did not like it at all.

He had to get to Lola Allen before anyone else.

After a while, Severus made up his mind. "It is a pointless act, for both of us to search the same area at the same time," he said to Minerva.

"I was hoping you would say that. It's best for you to search the second floor while I take care of here," she replied, sounding relieved.

Severus nodded, turned on his heels and without hesitation, made his way towards Classroom 22b.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed. Don't forget to leave a review if you liked/disliked this chapter. See you next time!


	8. A Secret Revealed

**A/N:** This chapter is a bit shorter than all the other ones, but I really like where it ended. Don't worry, I'm already working on the next one which should be out shortly. Many thanks to everyone who reviewed; it makes me very happy to see that people are enjoying the story and want to read more! In this chapter, Lola is finally rescued? I think so... Stay tuned for the next chapter, where Lola will have to fight to remain at Hogwarts!

* * *

"Alohamora!" Lola heard someone say from outside the door.

She didn't even have time to get up from the chair she was sitting in before the classroom door burst open, revealing a stern man with dark, long robes, greasy black hair and a large, hooked nose.

"Finally!" Lola cried out with joy. It was over, finally, it was all over. Everything was going to be okay. "Thank you for coming, Professor Snape –"

"Incarcerous!"

A stream of thin cords shot out from the tip of Professor Snape's wand, tightening around Lola's arms and legs, binding her to the wooden chair. He quickly walked over to Lola, grabbed her by her left shoulder and checked the lower half of her inner forearm.

Lola tried to swallow down her panic. "Professor Snape!" she yelped, struggling to get out of the chair. "What are you doing –"

"Quiet!" yelled Snape as he took a few steps back.

He reached into his robes and brought out a tiny vial. It contained a clear, watery liquid that had a slightly greenish undertone. He then poured a tiny fraction of the fluid into a very small, metal spoon.

"What – what is that, sir?" Lola asked nervously, gulping.

A faint silhouette of sympathy flashed across Severus' face as he regarded Lola's pathetic attempts of escape. "Veritaserum," he murmured sleekly.

Lola's face paled instantly, her eyes widening with terror. "But – but that's illegal!" she protested. "You can't do this!"

"Oh, but I can," Snape breathed as he approached Lola slowly, like a snake. "There exists a small loophole in the Ministry's legislation against forced potion use, for those who know how to take advantage of it. This specific dose is known as 'the shy minute'. It will work on you for fifty-nine seconds exactly; nothing more, nothing less. The harshest sentence that exists for this… practice… is a small monetary fine, and to that I say, bring it on. Now, stop talking and open your mouth."

Lola had no intentions of doing such a thing, but when Snape pinched her nose to stop her from breathing through it, she couldn't hold out for much longer and opened her mouth to draw in a huge gasp of oxygen. Severus pushed the metal spoon through Lola's lips and poured the liquid into her mouth. It was cold but tasteless.

"Now," Snape said a few seconds later. "First question; are you an imposter?"

"No!" Lola said furiously. She would have told him that even without the use of Veritaserum.

"Do you know how to cast the Cruciatus Curse?"

Lola laughed, thinking _what a strange question_. "Of course not," she said, fuming. "This is absurd –"

"Silence!" Snape screeched. "You will respond with nothing more than yes or no! Did you use the Cruciatus Curse on someone this morning?"

"No! I already told you I don't know how to cast it!"

"Did you send me a letter this morning?"

Lola was beginning to wish she never did. She wanted to say "No" just to be ironic but something within forced her to cry out "Yes!".

Snape paused for a second or so. "Are you a servant to the Dark Lord in any way?"

Lola was speechless. "Jesus Christ, no!" she said at once.

Out of all the scenarios that she had created in her head for when Professor Snape would come to her rescue, this was certainly not one of them.

Severus paced the room, trying to form his next questions carefully. He had about 35 seconds left.

"Is Lola Allen your real identity?" he asked hastily.

Lola rolled her eyes. "Come on! What kind of a question is that?!" When she saw Snape's icy stare, she murmured "Yes," resentfully.

"Why are you in this room?" Snape asked next.

Lola wanted to find a good excuse to hide the truth, but couldn't help it. "I don't know," she said.

Snape's eyes lit up with interest. "Did someone put you in here?"

"Yes," Lola said through gritted teeth.

"Who?" Snape demanded urgently.

Lola's breathing quickened. She knew that if Veritaserum wasn't involved, she wouldn't have dared, but thanks to the strong potion she had no choice but to speak the truth. "Professor Quirrell," she whispered.

Snape instantly closed in on Lola, placing a firm grip on both of her shoulders. "Why?"

"I don't know," Lola said once again. She had her suspicions, but in reality, she didn't really know his motives with absolute certainty.

"How do you know it was him?"

Lola had to quickly recount the events of last night to the potions master, and just as she finished talking, the 59 second came to an end.

Snape began pacing the room once again, taking in all of the information that Lola had just given him. A minute later, he flicked his wand and the ropes around Lola's arms and legs became loose.

"Thank you!" Lola said angrily. "I don't regret asking you for help at all, Professor. Oh, by the way, do you need to use more _illegal_ Veritaserum on me to determine if that sentence was true or not?"

Snape didn't look happy about that remark at all. "10 points from Gryffindor for being an insufferable dimwit," he said coldly.

Lola gasped arrogantly. "Ouch. That sure hurt more than these ropes that you tied around me!"

If such a thing was possible, Snape looked even more pissed now. "Fine. Make it 20."

"Professor, I don't care! What makes me angry right now is the fact that I would have told you all of this without the Veritaserum! I asked you here for help. What you did to me was very uncalled for and may I add, a significant waste of potion!"

Severus was taken aback by this response. He regarded Lola curiously. Most pupils her age would tremble to death at the sight of Severus, let alone be able to protest him or back-chat. He wasn't sure if he liked it or not, but one thing was for sure; he felt like this girl could see right through him.

"You have no idea what's going on out there, do you, idiot child?" Severus asked condescendingly.

Lola ignored his malicious insult. She wasn't intimidated by this man, nor his cold exterior, probably because she knew him inside-out. "How could I?" she simply asked. "I have been trapped here since last night."

Severus' eyes hardened as he looked back at Lola. There was only one thing left for him to do now. "Give me your wand," he said assertively.

After a moment's hesitation, Lola obliged, tired of fighting back.

Severus raised his own wand and placed its tip against the tip of Lola's wand.

"Prior Incantato!"

A blazing red fire appeared from where the two wands met, and Lola could swear she heard faint screaming coming from somewhere.

"Just as I thought," muttered Snape to himself, before he made the fire vanish. "Your wand was last used to conjure a Cruciatus Curse. But not by you."

"What… what are you saying, sir?!" Lola squealed, her voice quavering. "Quirrell used my wand to torture someone?".

Snape sighed heavily. "Not just that, he also impersonated you. At first, I thought he must have put you under Imperius Curse, but I think Polyjuice Potion now. He must have stolen your wand at some point during the week, practiced the Curse on animals - or humans - to make sure he could get a good response out of your wand – a very solid plan, indeed."

"But I had my wand this whole time!"

"Use your brain, silly girl! You were probably carrying around a copy – the plan wouldn't work if you reported your wand missing, would it? He must have picked up your wand at some point, and given you back a copy –" Lola immediately got flashbacks to their last Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson with Quirrell. "He also probably put one of your close friends under the Imperius Curse – to collect some of your hair or nails, and to gather information about you, of course."

 _Fay_ , Lola thought instantly. Fay had been acting very strangely since she had gone to see Quirrell that evening all by herself, and had asked Lola for a hairbrush the other morning even though hers was sitting on her bedside table.

"That's awful! But I don't get it! Why would he do any of this? It sounds like a lot of work!"

"To set you up without raising suspicion, of course. Oldest trick in the book. He wants to see you gone from this castle," Snape explained as he gave Lola back her wand. "The Cruciatus Curse, though; that was a bit of an overkill in my opinion."

This was a signature Death Eater move; steal their wand, create a copy, spell-bound their friend, become them and do something illegal in front of witnesses. Then, get rid of the copy, place the original wand back with its owner and just wait until they got in trouble. Severus had witnessed many people working for the Ministry get fired or even sent to Azkaban with this tactic during Lord Voldemort's early years. It was useful when you wanted someone to disappear without it being traced back to you.

It was textbook.

 _Oh my,_ thought Snape inwardly. _Little innocent Quirinus, a Death Eater huh? Oh my, oh my indeed._

 _Why,_ thought Lola at the same time as Snape continued to walk up and down the classroom. _Why would Quirrell want me gone so badly?_

"Overkill or not," Snape continued after a while. "I still think his plan, for whatever reason, worked beautifully. The Minister of Magic is on his way to officially expel you from Hogwarts, and there is nothing you can do about it."

* * *

 **A/N:** As always, thank you for reading. You are a true soldier. And shoutout to those who left reviews, favourited and followed this story; you guys are the absolute best! See you next chapter.


	9. A Trust Gained

**A/N:** I'm back! And I deeply apologise for the delay, but I got hit so hard by University stuff (3 x 2,500 word essays in two weeks), and just newly managed to recover. But I've learnt a huge lesson from this, and from now on will write a few chapters before I start posting so I still have something to put up even when I'm busy. To those who have sent me worried PMs; like I said in the previous chapter, I have no intentions of abandoning this story! I really appreciate your concerns though, it shows me there are people who truly care about this story and it warms my heart. Anyway, on with the story... In this chapter, Lola greets two unexpected visitors, both with completely different intentions. Stay tuned for next chapter, where Lola will have to face some serious accusations.

* * *

A stout man in pointed purple boots and bottle-green robes paced past the ugly stone gargoyle which bowed with respect. He hopped on to the moving spiral staircase which led him up to a highly polished oak door, where he paused and listened to the loud babble of voices coming from inside the room.

He knocked on the door three times.

A moment of absolute silence ensued, followed by a loud "Come in, please!" from someone behind the door.

Albus Dumbledore stood up from his high-backed chair as the man walked in, taking off his lime-green bowler hat.

"Cornelius!" he greeted the man as they shook hands. "Thank you for coming at such short notice."

"No bother." Fudge straightened his back seriously. "I understand we have a situation on our hands, Albus."

Dumbledore sighed heavily as he sat back in his chair. "That we do. I presume Minerva has told you all about it."

Cornelius Fudge nodded solemnly. "I would like to see the witness statement if that's alright."

Dumbledore swiftly walked over to the black cabinet across the room, where his Pensieve was hidden. Cornelius Fudge dipped his head in the silvery liquid to watch a deranged-looking ginger girl send the Cruciatus Curse at another girl, without batting an eyelid. A terrible scream ripped through the air, making Fudge jump back out of the Pensieve in horror.

"What do you think?" asked Dumbledore when Fudge stepped away from the stone basin, wiping the sweat off of his forehead with an emerald cloth.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you that, Albus," the man replied. "I never thought a youngling at Hogwarts would be capable of casting such a nasty curse."

"It happened under my supervision," Dumbledore said sympathetically. "I take full responsibility for this situation. You must spear her the usual sentence, Cornelius. An eleven-year-old child should not be acquainted with the Dementors."

Fudge's shoulders slumped. "I'm at a loss for words, Albus. I don't know what to do. This is a first in our history. I consulted with our newly appointed Head of Improper Use of Magic Office, Ms. Umbridge – I suspect you met her already – she too has no idea how to deal with this situation."

"And what did she advise you to do?" asked Dumbledore, already knowing the answer.

An unpleasant expression settled on Fudge's face. "A disciplinary hearing," he said without enthusiasm. "I trust her judgement fully but we can't let this get out, Albus. It would cause great public concern – and ruin both of our reputations! If the press gets a sniff of this… Oh boy…" He wiped more sweat off from his wide forehead.

Dumbledore examined Fudge with momentary disdain, before speaking with as much authority as he could muster. "Gather your most trusted people – prepare a cabinet. Give the girl a chance to defend herself, Cornelius. Imagine what people would say if they heard you've sent an eleven-year-old to Azkaban - without a trial."

The last sentence had been enough to win him over. Cornelius Fudge gulped, distress evident in his strained features, but he had made his mind up; they were going to have a secret disciplinary hearing for Lola Allen.

* * *

Lola was all alone in the cold, dark cell.

She knew she was somewhere inside the Ministry building, but had no idea exactly where. Once they had removed the black cloth around her eyes and lifted the handcuff spell from her wrists, she had been quickly pushed into the tiny room with rusty metal bars, locked in and left by herself with no food or water.

 _Better than Azkaban,_ Lola thought instantly.

From what the men had told her, she knew that she was going to be on trial tomorrow.

Surprisingly, the news of what had happened inside Hogwarts, for once, hadn't spread like wildfire. Parvati, Lavender, Hermione and Fay had been strictly instructed by McGonagall to not speak of the horrible crime that Lola had committed. Even the majority of staff members had no idea what had happened.

Lola thought of Fay, and instantly felt horrible. She tried to ration what her best friend might be feeling at that time, the pain and trauma she had suffered at the hands of someone she thought she could trust, without any explanation.

 _She must hate me so much right now,_ Lola thought.

There was no coming back from this. Quirrell had played her so well, Lola had actually begun to consider taking the easy route and just pleading guilty to the charges. Even if her innocence was proven, which she doubted, nothing would ever be the same. In one month, Lola had managed to ruin the best thing that had ever happened to her, before she could even learn a single spell.

She cried and cried, until she could no longer and she slowly drifted off into a sleep filled with soul-crushing screams and nightmares.

When Lola woke up a few hours after, she found Severus Snape staring down at her, a calculating look dominating his rigid features.

"Sir!" Lola exclaimed hastily as she scurried to get up. This took a while because though her mind was wide awake, her body was still half-asleep. "I knew you would come! You're here to help me! Thank you, sir – thank you! I'm so glad you're here."

Severus continued to stare at Lola, frozen on the spot.

The huge grin on Lola's face flickered momentarily, but she still felt overwhelmed with joy. "I'm listening, sir. What's the plan?"

A long, daunting silence ensued before Severus opened his mouth to say only two words, which echoed transiently in Lola's tiny cell.

"Idiot child."

Lola blinked, looking confused. Deep down, she felt genuinely hurt, but before she could react, Severus opened his left palm to reveal a tiny tube of liquid. Lola would have assumed it to be Veritaserum again, except the solution in the vial this time was pitch black.

Severus extended his arm through the metal bars. Lola picked up the small glass tube with trembling fingers, careful not to drop it.

"Drink," Severus commanded simply.

Lola eyed the elixir wearily. "May I ask what it is first?"

"You may not," returned Severus sternly. "Drink."

And so she did, pinching her nose tightly and taking all the liquid down in one gulp. The mixture burned her throat severely as it travelled down to her stomach, leaving a strong and bitter aftertaste.

"Ugh," Lola complained with a disgusted expression on her flushed face. "What is this?"

"An antidote," Snape replied shortly. "There is a reason why you haven't been given any food or water since you've been here. They will give you something to eat or drink moments before your trial, but they will not tell you when they mix something very special into it –"

"Veritaserum," Lola guessed quickly, feeling queasy.

Snape nodded. "Indeed. This antidote will remain in your system for about twenty-four hours. Therefore, every word which will come out of your mouth will be deemed as a fact by the cabinet." He briefly closed his eyes, drawing a deep, heavy breath into his lungs. Hesitation flickered in his pitch black eyes before he began confessing. "I risked everything by coming here tonight. What I just did earns me a one-way ticket to Azkaban. But I believe you, Allen. There is something very wrong about you, and very suspicious, but somehow I find myself believing you. I certainly trust you more than Quirrell…"

Lola struggled to find her voice. "Sir…" she whispered quietly. "I will explain everything to you in due time. For now, go with your gut feeling. I know you see reason, you will be the only person out of everything who will. That's why I had decided to contact you in the first place. I know some very dark and dangerous things about Professor Quirrell… That's why they did this to me –"

"They?" Severus asked quickly, feeling his heartbeat quicken.

Just then, the metal door to their left opened wide to reveal a tall man with pale blond hair and flashy green robes standing in the doorway. He smiled acidly as he slid through the door in an elegant fashion, making sure not to touch his filthy surroundings, holding a silver walking stick with a snake head attached at the top between his fingers.

Lola didn't recognise the man, but she had no difficulty guessing who the man was. Hence, she quickly hid the glass tube between her robes, trying to look as calm as possible.

"Severus," the man breathed, a subtle fire igniting in his cold, grey eyes. "How… interesting to see you here."

"The same goes for you, Lucius," Snape hissed softly. "May I ask what brought you here?"

Lucius forced a sweet smile. "You first, my friend."

"Dumbledore's orders," lied Severus almost instantly. "And you?"

"Curiosity," Lucius muttered as he turned his head to stare at Lola with awe. "Cornelius has told me all about the little Mudblood here, even asked me to observe the hearings tomorrow – he values my feedback, you see –"

"Nothing to do with your generous donations to the Department of Magical Games and Sports, then?" Snape said smoothly. He knew all too well that Cornelius Fudge was Lucius' personal lapdog.

"Someone has been digging," Lucius replied icily.

Snape shrugged unapologetically. "Merely digging the second page of the Daily Prophet."

"Where I choose to invest my fortunes is none of your business, Severus," Lucius said, no longer feeling the need to hide his hostility. "Nor does it have anything to do with what's going on here. Fudge simply wanted a parent's perspective on the situation. It could've been my Draco that got in the way of this Mudblood's curse, after all. Everyone knows that Hogwarts is going to the dogs, and I will be representing the noble pureblood who fell victim to this heinous crime under your mighty Dumbledore's roof."

Severus was fuming, but he forced himself to think clearly about the situation at hand. He had no idea why Lucius had strolled into Lola's cell that night, but the chances of it being for something other than good was extremely high. He had to get him out of there.

"Well, then," Severus said lightly. "Since you have seen her now, that should remedy your curiosity. I shall see you out now."

Lola watched nervously as Lucius Malfoy left, followed by an agitated looking Severus Snape. With her two unexpected visitors, she had gotten a taste of what was in store for her tomorrow, and she definitely was not looking forward to it.

* * *

 **A/N:** I would like to once again thank you for following this story; I really appreciate it. And if you're new here, don't forget to hit favourite or follow if you like story, and do leave a review if you have time; they help me write better! See you shortly.


	10. A Judgement Made

**A/N:** Here comes another chapter! Thank you all so much for the love and support, means the world to me. Especially your reviews, which make my day. So glad to see so many people following this story; I strive to bring you all a story that you can all enjoy. Anyway, in this chapter Fay reveals a secret, and Lola appears in Court. Stay tuned for next chapter, when... well, can't give you spoilers. Wait and see. ;-)

* * *

"Fay?" the young woman called softly, eyeing the girl sitting in front of her with great concern.

Fay Dunbar continued to stare, transfixed, at the empty fireplace set in the middle of the wall to her right. It was one of the most beautiful she had ever seen, with a glimmering marble surround, patterned with long, golden ivies and roses. She could tell it had been a long time since a fire had been lit in it, which saddened her deeply, knowing that such a mesmerising piece was only being used as a part of the Floo Network. She wanted to see the flashing red reflections it could produce and feel the warmth of its flames.

"Would you mind lighting the fireplace, please?" Fay asked politely, without looking up at the young woman.

The woman produced a magnificent wood-fire with her wand in seconds, which now blazed cheerily, sending ruby hues around the room which warmed Fay's heart instantly.

The young woman, pleased to see Fay finally smiling, began to speak.

"My name is Healer Marie Dunkirk –"

"I know," said Fay bitterly without letting the woman finish her sentence. "Madam Pomfrey told me already…"

Fay had strongly opposed being referred to a Healer for counselling. She knew she didn't need it. But neither Professor McGonagall, nor Madam Pomfrey, had let her hear the end of it. Now there she was, sitting in front of a young girl who looked like she had just graduated from Hogwarts, staring at her with pity in her eyes, feeling sorry for her. She hated it.

"Right," Mary said a few seconds after she recovered. "So… Um…" she tried to form her next sentence but realised she didn't know what to say.

She was finding it difficult to approach Fay and wasn't sure if it was because Fay was an unapproachable girl, or the fact that she was still highly inexperienced in the field. She had only completed her internship at St. Mungo's a week ago, and this was her first session without any supervision. One thing she had learnt well enough, though, was that she was never supposed to make her nervousness visible to her patients.

Marie cleared her throat to gain Fay's attention. "Nice to meet you then, Fay. Could you tell me a bit about what happened at school?"

Fay would rather not. She never wanted to speak of it again, nor think about Lola. She would be much happier pretending that nothing had ever happened. It had been hell recounting the events to Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey already, and she felt physically and mentally exhausted. But it seemed as if she had no choice.

"I woke up in the middle of the night and saw that one of my roommates… Lola… wasn't in the room. But I was too sleepy to do anything about it so I went back to bed. She was there when I woke up the next day, but she was acting a bit weird –"

"How so?" pressed Marie curiously as she continued to take notes on her pad.

"I don't know…" said Fay uncomfortably. To answer that question, she would have to visualise the events, and she really didn't want to do that. "It just felt off. So I turned to ask her what she had been doing last night and she replied with raising her wand and… well, you know the rest."

Marie felt a wave of sorrow wash over her. Her emotional empathy had allowed her to tune into what Fay must have felt that morning, not just because of the Cruciatus Curse, but because of her friend's shocking betrayal.

"Were you close to Lola?" Marie asked.

Fay closed her eyes, looking hurt. Her voice was shaking as she spoke. "It hadn't been that long since we had met, but I felt… close to her. She.. she had reminded me of my friend… best friend… who passed away two years ago."

Tears appeared in Fay's eyes, and Marie kindly pushed the box of tissues towards her. She didn't know what to say, how to react, to a little girl grieving right before her eyes. This was nothing like her training sessions, where her Professors would find actors to pretend to be patients with fake problems. This was a real child, suffering real pain, and it made Marie feel helpless.

She decided to do the only thing that felt natural to her. She rose from her chair, went over to Fay, and embraced her in a huge, tight hug. As Fay cried in her arms, her little body shaking with each sob, Marie stroked the back of her head compassionately.

They didn't say a word until Fay calmed down and they both sat back in their chairs. Fay resumed staring back at the crackling fireplace.

"Sounds like she meant a lot to you," Marie said, not knowing whether she was referring to her late best friend or Lola.

"Yeah…" Fay breathed as she reached for the box of tissues. She wiped her tears and gently blew her nose before tossing the tissue into the bin. "Can I go now? I don't want to miss any of my classes…"

Marie nodded, trying not to seem bothered by the fact that they hadn't resolved much at all.

It was a good start, though. Fay had opened up to her more than Marie had thought she would at first, and she felt like with a few more sessions they could make some good progress.

Fay straightened her robes and picked up her school bag, ready to leave.

"I'm always here, Fay," Marie said softly. "Whenever you need me. No matter how silly or small you may think your issue to be, you can always knock on my door."

Fay nodded silently, avoiding Marie's gaze. She turned on her heels and opened the door to leave, before pausing.

"She wasn't my friend," she said, looking down.

"What?" was the only thing Marie was able to respond with. Fay had just said moments ago that her and Lola were getting along really well prior to the incident, and that they were developing a close friendship. _Oh no,_ thought Marie nervously. _Is she in denial?_

"The girl that died – she wasn't my friend," Fay clarified. "She was my twin sister."

And with that, Fay left the room, leaving Marie feeling shocked and heartbroken.

* * *

Lola watched, in absolute awe, as about fifty witches and wizards in plum-coloured robes sat on the empty benches rising on both sides of her. She had been sat on a dark wooden chair with chains in the middle of the room, binding her arms and legs tightly so she couldn't move. She blinked as a woman who looked like a pale toad with large, bulging eyes approached her, holding a small goblet filled to the brim with a clear liquid.

The woman was dressed in such a nauseating tone of pink and chuckled so sweetly that Lola knew exactly who she was. The woman placed a straw in the drink and pushed it towards Lola's mouth.

"Drink it up, sweetie," she said innocently, but her eyes said otherwise.

Lola knew exactly what was in that cup, but knowing she had Professor Snape's antidote flowing through her veins made her feel safe enough to lock her lips around the metal straw at once and drain the whole cup. Even if she hadn't been able to get her hands on an antidote, she knew that with the blazing thirst she felt at the back of her throat, she would have drunk the whole liquid either way.

Dolores Umbridge chuckled at the desperate sight of Lola and left with the empty cup in her hand.

A few moments passed before everyone settled down, right before she heard Fudge's booming voice –

"Disciplinary hearing of the fifteenth of October into offences committed under the Decree for the Absolute Prohibition of Unforgivable Curses by Delores Lucy Allen –"

Lola cringed at the sound of her full name. Unlike what her parents had always said, her first name had never grown on her. She had thought about it for months before finally deciding to shorten it to Lola. To her, Lola Lucy sounded better, not that she ever used her middle name anyway. Not only that, but the only other Delores (or anything close) she had come to know over the years was her least favourite book character of all time, who was ironically staring down at her with disdain as she thought about this.

"- resident at number three, Warwick Road, Romney Marsh, Kent." Fudge continued. "Interrogators: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister of Magic; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Rufus Scrimgeour, Head of Auror Office; Dolores Jane Umbridge, Head of Improper Use of Magic Office; Pius Thicknesse, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister; Court Scribe, Mafalda Hopkirk; Witness for the defense…" Fudge ruffled the papers on his mahogany desk. "Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Order of Merlin, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot."

Lola turned around to find the Hogwarts Headmaster sitting on a bench behind her, accompanied by Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape and… Quirrell?

Lola's heart stopped beating. What was he doing here?

"Now…" Fudge said, causing Lola to turn her head back around. "The charges against the accused are as follows: That she did knowingly, deliberately, and in full awareness of the illegality of her actions, cast the Cruciatus Curse against a minor on October the thirteenth at forty-two minutes past seven, which constitutes an offense under paragraph A of the Decree for the Absolute Prohibition of Unforgivable Curses, 1778. Due to the severe nature of this crime, the defendant will be tried as an adult."

With each word, Lola felt more and more out of breath. Knowing that she had done nothing wrong, knowing that the man who had done this to her, Voldemort himself, was sitting a few meters behind her, devastated her deeply.

"You are Delores Lucy Allen, of number three, Warwick Road, Romney Marsh, Kent?" Fudge asked, addressing Lola over the top of his parchment.

Lola almost wanted to say no, to beg him to let her go, to say that they had the wrong person, but she answered "Yes," through gritted teeth.

"How do you plead to the charges?" Fudge asked sternly.

"Not guilty," Lola said at once.

"What were you doing on the morning of October the thirteenth?"

"I don't remember," said Lola, trying to sound sincere, ready to recount everything that they had rehearsed with Snape the day he found her. "I woke up in a room all by myself with the door locked. I don't know how I got there, or what happened at all."

The members of the Wizengamot started muttering to each other before Fudge raised his hand to quiet them.

"Are you stating, without any reasonable doubt, that you are not responsible for the events which occurred on the morning of October the thirteenth?"

"Yes, sir," said Lola with a quivering voice.

Fudge stared down at Lola for a moment. Lola could see the conviction in his eyes for a second before he signalled one of the men standing in front of the courtroom door.

Suddenly, a huge screen appeared in the middle of the room, right before Lola's eyes. She could see Fay, Parvati, Lavender and… herself. They were in their dorm, and everyone except for Lola was dressed in their pyjamas. The image turned to Hermione's closet, where a hand reached in to grab some socks. This was obviously a memory from Hermione's point of view.

Suddenly, Lola heard Fay ask "Where were you last night?".

The scene turned back to Lola, just in time for everyone to see her point her wand at Fay and scream "Crucio!" at the top of her lungs. The whole courtroom gasped in unison.

A high-pitched scream ripped through the air, crushing Lola's heart into a million pieces. But the Lola in the scene laughed like a maniac as Fay fell on the floor, wiggling in agony.

"Thank you, Pius," said Fudge to the man across the room and the scene disappeared.

"That wasn't me!" Lola exclaimed shakily. "I don't even know how to use my wand yet! That wasn't me!"

"How do you explain what we just witnessed?" asked Fudge icily.

"I don't know!" said Lola, feeling her eyes water. "I swear on my life!"

At that moment, Dumbledore stood up calmly behind Lola.

"Considering the delicate nature of was just presented to the Court, I suggest a five-minute recess to reach a verdict," he said commandingly.

For a split second, a silent communication occurred between Fudge and Dumbledore, before he looked back at Lola and said, "Request granted."

A loud collective of murmurs erupted in the courtroom, as everyone began discussing their thoughts and opinions about the case. Dumbledore quickly hurried to Fudge's desk, who leaned over to listen, followed by Umbridge, Madam Bones and a few other people Lola couldn't recognise.

 _Breathe in. Breathe out._ Lola had to actually remind herself to do these. _It's going to be okay._

That moment would become the longest five minutes of her entire life.

When it was finally over, everyone settled in their seats once again. Lola realised Fudge's face had blanched a little, and his left eye kept twitching. But his gaze was still serious.

As all air left Lola's lungs, Fudge cleared his throat, ready to deliver his verdict.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you so much for reading! I connected very deeply with Fay in this chapter, as some of you might notice. The chapter was supposed to start with the Court scene, but something just came over me out of nowhere. My sister passed away 6 years ago when I was 13, and writing about Fay's awkward therapy session was in itself very therapeutic for me for some reason. Again, thank you so much for reading this chapter, and I hope to see you next time (hopefully).


	11. A Truth Faked

**A/N:** I've been gone again, not because of my studies this time, but because it's been very difficult for me to continue after the last chapter. I'm sure some of you will remember the reason why. But the important thing is, your kind reviews and PMs have allowed me to pick the pen back up (or shall I say the Microsoft Word) and get to writing. For that, I thank my amazing readers - however small of a group you may be, know that you are making a huge difference in my life - and for that, I am beyond grateful. Thank you lots! xxx In this chapter, we see Lola face her saviour and her demons all at once. Next chapter, redemption, perhaps?

* * *

Feeling exhausted and a little shaken up, Lola collapsed onto her bed in the Gryffindor Tower. She was having difficulty believing that the charges against her had been dropped. Fudge's booming voice still echoed in her ears –

"In view of the nature of these accusations, and the age of the defendant, the Court believes there to be a lack of evidence in proving, without a reasonable doubt, that the defendant is responsible for the events of the morning of October the thirteenth. Therefore, unless further evidence is brought before the Court, the defendant is cleared of all charges and is free to go."

And like that, she had walked out of the gloomy courtroom, escorted by her Professors, feeling the glare of Professor Quirrell on her back.

 _What now?_ she thought to herself. Lola wanted to feel optimistic, to celebrate her proven innocence, but she knew for sure she was a target now, and she knew all too well what Voldemort was like - he wouldn't rest until Lola was absolutely destroyed. The thought sent shivers down her spine.

Lola jumped when she felt something brush up against her leg – but it was only her cat, Prince, who had come by to say hello. Lola realised how neglectful she had been towards her pet as she stroked his ginger fur.

"I'm sorry," she sighed as tears welled up in her eyes, all the emotions she had been repressing since the trial building up in her chest. "I will be better. I promise."

Prince curled up next to Lola's pillow and began licking his paws.

Lola continued to play with Prince and didn't look up when the door to the dorm room opened. She wasn't ready to face the world, wasn't ready to face the girls who had all witnessed what 'she' had done to her best friend. She might have convinced a room full of people of her innocence, but she didn't know what to say to them – or to Fay.

Someone walked over to the end of Lola's bed and threw a piece of folded parchment on it.

"I've been asked to give you this."

Lola recognised Lavender's voice at once, which sounded forcefully defiant, as if to say "I'm not scared of you, and I'm not here because I want to be."

But before she could do anything about it, she heard Lavender walk back over to the door and leave.

Lola closed her eyes, her fingers trembling with a feeling she couldn't identify yet, before picking up the parchment. The writing was short and rushed. It read:

 **In my office. Now.**

 **-SS**

* * *

Down in the dungeons, Severus paced up and down the dusky room, lost in a million thoughts at once. He had risked his career many times over petty things before, be it taunting his students ruthlessly or unrightfully deducting house points from those he disliked – but he had never broken the law over something which wouldn't benefit him directly – not for anyone. He needed answers now, needed to know if his gut feeling had been right, or had he been a fool?

"Come in," he ordered rigidly when Lola Allen knocked on the door.

Lola walked in, feeling more anxious than she had felt when walking into the courtroom. Somehow, the thought of being interrogated by Severus Snape was scarier than the prospect of being prosecuted by the Minister of Magic. She sat down quietly, looking down at her fingers.

"Talk!" Snape demanded, his voice as sharp as a knife.

Lola was ready to speak the truth – well, not _really_ the truth. She couldn't tell him the real story, or at least the story she knew as real (because frankly, she was beginning to think she had lost her mind), as she would straight away be admitted to a mental institution. She had thought long and hard about what her story would be when she was in the cell the night before, and she was finally feeling brave enough to open her mouth – so she did.

"The second day I came to Hogwarts, I was feeling very self-conscious about my lack of knowledge. I don't come from a magical family, I don't know loads about this world – I wanted a head start. On the train, I heard someone talking about the restricted section in the library and how we aren't allowed to go there without permission. I thought, great! I will go there secretly and learn lots of stuff that nobody else knows!" She hated presenting herself as a pathetically conniving idiot, driven by vapid ambition, but she knew what Snape thought of her and her peers and she knew he would buy it. "I left my bed at midnight, stole a lamp from the Common Room and made my way to the library. It was locked, so I couldn't get in. As I was standing there, wondering how to get in, I heard someone's voice – Filch, talking to his cat. I panicked, left the lamp and started running. I hid behind a statue which overlooked one of the classrooms – that's when I saw Professor Quirrell."

Snape, who had looked bored and disappointed up to that point, suddenly looked interested. Lola, feeling relieved, continued.

"He was speaking to himself – weirdly, his stutter was gone – and he was going on and on about some corridor and traps – he was far away so I couldn't really hear him –"

Snape quickly walked over to Lola, leaned on his desk and stared right into her eyes. "Did you hear him say anything else? Anything about a stone?"

Lola faked an expression of deep thought. "Yes, actually," she said after a while. "He did mumble about a stone and cursed a lot."

"I knew it!" yelled Snape, punching the air. "That son of a –"

"But that's not all, sir," Lola said quickly, fearing she would lose his attention. "I heard a second voice – a very old, tired voice. It sounded mumbled, I couldn't understand anything it was saying, but I got the impression that this voice was giving Quirrell his instructions. Every time the voice spoke, Quirrell went all apologetic and said 'Yes, my Lord'".

A dark expression passed over Snape's face, momentarily irking Lola, before he took a few steps backwards. Half a minute passed without any movement occurred in the room, before Severus spoke, his voice colder than ice.

"Did you – did you see the owner of this voice?"

"That's the thing," Lola said as she looked up from her lap. "I could see the whole room – there was nobody else there."

* * *

Hermione was a clever girl.

Back at her old school, everyone knew that she would one day be the school valedictorian. She was class president, the ultimate teacher's pet and frankly, too brilliant for her age, as everybody pointed out. It had always come easily to her, her biggest secret being her unbreakable bond with books. But nobody had even been able to match her intellect, nobody had her brains, her patience or her ambition – however, that all changed when she stepped foot at Hogwarts.

She knew it the minute she saw her – the air of confidence oozing out of her, the smug look on her face screaming "I know more than you!". She was prettier (not that it mattered to Hermione, but she knew it mattered to a lot of other people), she liked books and most of all – she was ambitious, too. Even though she had never come across a worthy opponent before, Hermione knew all too well the dangers of underestimating an enemy – but there was nothing to underestimate about Lola Allen.

Hermione was clever enough to know, from the minute she laid eyes on her, that Lola was and would always be the only person she would ever feel threatened by. Maybe it was their similarities, or maybe it was their differences – she didn't know, didn't need to know – because one thing was for sure: Hermione would die rather than let someone else become "the best".

So when she saw Lola do the absolute unspeakable that morning, she cooperated fully with the Ministry officials – she even asked if she could testify against her. Of course, she hid her real motives behind her concern for Fay, which was partly true; Hermione wasn't a total sociopath, she did have feelings and did feel sorry for what happened to Fay. But she would be lying if she said she wished it had never happened.

But when Lola returned the next day, looking and acting like nothing had ever happened, Hermione felt devastated. How was it possible? She had spent hours in the library looking up cases where Unforgivable Curses were used – not that anyone Lola's age had done it before so she couldn't find an exact replica – but they all ended up in the same place; Azkaban.

Hermione had initially thought - well, hoped - that Lola had just been allowed to return so that she could pack her stuff, but Lola was in her bed, fast asleep, by the time she and the girls returned from their Astronomy session that Wednesday evening.

Fay took one look at Lola's sleeping figure and left the room without a word.

"How could they let her back in here?" whispered Lavender disapprovingly as they watched Lola's chest rise and fall peacefully. "After what she did to Fay…"

"No idea," said Hermione, through gritted teeth.

Lavender was beside herself. "She's a freak! Surely, they can't let her stay with us… What are they thinking?"

"I don't feel safe here…" Parvati admitted quietly. "I don't care if they took pity on her – she is mentally insane. We all know this. We were there, we saw her eyes. What if she… she decides to do that to one of us this time…"

Hermione bit her lip. She, too, was feeling unnerved about Lola's return, but for totally different reasons.

"Let's get changed and go downstairs," Hermione said authoritatively. "And somebody please take Fay's pyjamas, too. We sleep in the Common Room tonight. Then we go speak to Professor McGonagall tomorrow."

When the girls all changed into their pyjamas and left, Lola finally felt like it was okay for her to open her teary eyes. Not knowing what else to do, she turned on her side, curled up her legs and sobbed into her pillow for the rest of that night.

* * *

 **A/N:** Sorry for the sad ending, but I, too, am feeling quite gloomy these days. Expressing it through this story helps. I'm going through some difficult times at the moment and I appreciate anybody who has stuck around - and continues to stick around - to read more of this story. You all make my day. Thank you!


	12. A Friend Roused

**A/N:** Back to my original upload routine at last. Everything is out of the way now. Expect regular updates. Many thanks to my recurring readers, hello and welcome if you are new here! Consider favouriting or following this story if you like it, or leave a review detailing your opinion (both positive and negative). This chapter, we take a peek inside some of our characters' minds to see what's going on in there. Next chapter, Lola forgets a crucially important detail which ends in a catastrophe.

* * *

Percy loved responsibility, and everyone who had met him at least once in their lifetime already knew this.

He walked across the grand Hogwarts grounds, deep in thought, as he looked for a good place to do some private studying. Sure, he wasn't the first boy in his family to be successful at school. His older brothers had also thrived at school, one as an athlete and the other as an academic. Percy did feel sometimes like he was third down the line of succession – like a Prince who had come to terms with the fact that he would probably never be King.

But Percy had something which distinguished him from his older brothers – he was responsible. His love for duty was even above his love for home, his love for family. This made him believe he was destined for excellence – a career more esteemed than anyone else in the family. He was willing to sacrifice a lot for his journey to greatness – even himself.

His CV already looked better than any of his peers'. He was an outstanding student, a responsible Prefect and his father worked for the Ministry; Percy was even promised a paid placement this summer there as somebody's assistant. He didn't care who, he would be there to build a network of acquaintances which would come in handy later.

He wanted to be the Minister one day.

As he came to a stop, Percy didn't recognise the girl sitting alone underneath the huge oak tree at first. Her eyes were puffy and red like she had just stopped crying, and she was blowing her nose into a napkin. She looked around to see if anyone was watching her, just in time for Percy to pretend like he was looking the opposite direction. The girl then picked up her extremely old and battered book off the ground and returned to her read.

Lola was actually unaware that she was holding the book upside down. She had no idea what the page, or the whole book, was on about. The only reason why she had it in her hands was to make it clear that she didn't want to be disturbed.

So naturally, Percy decided to disturb her.

"That's one of my favourite books," he lied as he approached Lola. This was going to be amusing.

Lola snapped out of her reverie. "What?" she said as her existence gained focus.

Percy suppressed a chuckle. "I said I love the book you're reading. What's been your favourite bit so far?"

Lola had randomly selected the book form the library and so had no clue what the book was about; but she did know the title. "Contemporary Beauty Spells for Fashionable Witches is one of your favourite books?" Lola asked with an arched brow.

"Yes," Percy replied with a straight face.

For the first time since what felt like forever, Lola burst out laughing. Percy joined her.

"You know what would help you read it better?" he asked ironically as he sat down next to Lola. "…if you were holding it the right way."

Lola moaned as she gave up on trying to appear wholesome and shoved the book back into her schoolbag. "I know, I'm a mess."

"Got given your first homework, then," Percy mocked her.

"Something like that," Lola mumbled.

The silence between them was awkward. Though he meant well, Lola could feel Percy's patronising, condescending aura, and found it intensely ironic that she was actually older than Percy.

"I can help you if you want?" Percy offered. He was sure he could speak to Professor McGonagall and have it put down in his CV as voluntary experience.

"No, thank you. That wouldn't be fair on my classmates."

What a foolish principle, thought Percy as he shook his head. And there he was, thinking that this girl also had potential for excellence. How wrong he had been.

A few meters away, Hermione watched, fuming, the friendly exchange between her kryptonite Lola and one of the Gryffindor Prefects. 'Jealous' wouldn't begin to explain the feeling in the depths of her stomach.

A few meters away from Hermione was Ron, who also had his eyes on Lola and Percy, but his jealousy originated from a completely different aspect. He had taken quite a fancy to Lola, who, in his opinion had beautiful blue eyes and two very kissable cheeks. Looking at her made Ron feel warm inside, but now she was sitting down with Percy and he felt warm as ever, but this time from rage.

Why was it that his brothers always got the best of everything?

Harry had to shake Ron violently to make him snap out of his hypnosis.

"What's up?" Harry asked. "You're not listening to me."

Ron sighed heavily. "Nothing. Just wondering what we're going to do."

"We try again tonight," Harry said with determination. "We can't let Malfoy make fun of us again. I will tell him during dinner."

Malfoy had challenged them to a duel the previous evening, but Harry and Ron had ran into some unexpected trouble – for some reason, four of their classmates had decided to sleep in the Common Room, making it virtually impossible for Ron and Harry to sneak out of the Gryffindor Tower. Embarrassed, they had sheepishly went down to breakfast the following morning and had tried really hard not to turn crimson red as Malfoy performed the chicken dance for them from across the Slytherin table.

They had no idea what they were doing, they had even forgotten why they had agreed to participate in this duel, but Malfoy was very good at manipulation and they didn't even question their decision once.

A few meters away from them, Lavender, who was chilling by the lake with Parvati, kept looking back and forth between Lola and Ron. She knew it instantly – there was something going on between these two. Jealousy erupted violently within her. Ron was a funny boy, he was the class clown and Lavender liked that. He was popular too – best friend to Harry Potter. The likes of Parvati always sought after the likes of Harry – the good-looking golden boy who always broke everyone's heart in the end.

But Lavender wasn't basic like that. She wanted someone charming, someone fun, someone who hadn't had it easy in life, someone who was good at blending into the background, someone everyone underestimated but she could see their greatness – someone like Ron.

But now Ron was eyeing Lola and all her dreams were crushed. As if she needed another reason to hate her.

Not too far away from Lavender was Penelope Clearwater, with her own group of friends, whose jealousy was so intense that it actually gave her enough courage to get up and start walking.

Unaware of everything going on around them, Lola and Percy continued to chat about advanced Transfiguration spells.

When they heard Penelope's shrilly voice call "Sorry!", both Lola and Percy looked up at the same time.

Percy went bright red. "Hi there," he breathed, not knowing what else to say.

Penelope's cheeks were also heating up. "Hello," she said shyly. Even though she had the perfect excuse to approach him, Penelope still felt cripplingly nervous. "I was just wondering if you took any notes for Potions that might be useful for our next assignment? I'm finding it really difficult to keep up this year..."

"Oh, dear," Percy said sympathetically. "That's unfortunate. I don't have any notes but I do have an essay plan made if that'll be useful. I don't have it on me right now though. Do you want me to owl it to you when I get back to the Tower?"

Penelope lit up like a 100 volt Christmas tree. The prospect of getting mail from Percy Weasley – hell, the possibility of becoming pen-pals with Percy Weasley – made her palms sweat with adrenaline. "Yes!" she said enthusiastically – too enthusiastically – so she cleared her throat and tried to bring her voice down a little. "Yes, thank you. That would be great."

"See you, then," said Percy.

Penelope waved goodbye and walked back to her posse.

Lola fixed her suggestive gaze on Percy, her left eyebrow lifted.

"What?!" Percy exclaimed, feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable under Lola's gaze.

"I like your girlfriend," Lola chuckled. "She seems really nice. Should probably find a better excuse next time though."

If possible, Percy turned an even darker shade of crimson. "Penelope is not my girlfriend –"

"Oh but you want her to be, right?" asked Lola with a huge grin on her face. "I saw the way you look at her. Come oooon… you can be honest with me. Won't tell anyone, promise!"

"No!" Percy protested, feeling genuinely distressed.

One thing Percy Weasley would never do was open up to people. Especially to someone he barely knew. He strongly believed that such things made a person weak and vulnerable. He didn't need any advice or support from anybody – especially not from an eleven-year-old. He was better off on his own and despised people who insinuated he needed them.

Very annoyed, "Mind your own business," Percy said as he got up from underneath the oak tree and began walking back towards the Castle.

Lola, her mouth gaping wide open from momentary shock, shouted "I'm sorry!" once she gained her composure. "I didn't mean to upset you!" she called as she watched Percy's retreating back, but it was too late; by that point, he was already out of earshot.

 _Great_ , thought Lola gingerly. _At this rate, I will have no one left but Prince_ _by the end of the week._

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks for the read you absolute legend. Consider favouriting/following/reviewing this story if you enjoyed. Until next time...


	13. A Detail Forgotton

**A/N:** Another quickie in less than 24 hours - as promised, the updates will be flowing like water. Make sure you add the story to your favourites/follows so that you never miss an update. Also, consider leaving a review if you are liking/disliking the story so far. Thank you for clicking! In this chapter, as the title reads, an important detail has been overlooked by our Lola, with severe consequences. Stick around for next chapter, where we find out what those severe consequences actually are.

* * *

In all her life, Lola would have never thought she could ever be miserable at a place like Hogwarts, but she had been for the past two weeks.

Her dorm-mates still refused to communicate with her, which made waking up every morning very awkward. It didn't help that Hermione had been assigned as her partner for Potions; Lola sometimes felt like the girl was ready to snap and attack her at any minute. Her relationship with Fay had gotten even worse than that – the two times that Lola had indeed managed to corner her alone, Fay had simply shaken her head and stated that she wanted nothing to do with Lola. Even Percy avoided her at all costs.

As if all this hadn't been bad enough, Lola had also begun having terrible nightmares – filled with horrifying images of Quirrell ambushing her in the Forbidden Forest and keeping her captive somewhere secluded. She always woke up breathless and sweaty, in the middle of the night, to find Fay tossing and turning in her bed – writhing in pain.

Not even the delicious scent of baked pumpkin filling up the corridors on Halloween morning was enough to cheer her up. In fact, it reminded Lola of her mother and her home. She tried hard not to burst out crying – she hadn't realised how much she had missed her family. She would give anything – do anything – to be at home that morning. Hogwarts had become nothing but a depressive prison for her, with her life being under constant threat.

What did cheer her a little, though, was Professor Flitwick announcing to the class that they were finally ready to 'swish and flick' their wands for real. No matter how bad her mood, Lola had no choice but to get excited at that news – finally, she was going to start learning things that she had come to Hogwarts for in the first place.

Professor Flitwick began putting them into pairs. Wanting to avoid being paired with Hermione at all costs, Lola quickly walked over to Harry; Lola had come to the conclusion that Harry was perhaps the only decent person in the room at the minute. But before she could open her mouth to ask him if he wanted to be partners with Lola, she heard Ron ask the exact same question – to her.

Lola turned around to find a pair of bright blue eyes belonging to Ronald Weasley give her the puppy stare

"I'm sorry, Ron," replied Lola quietly. "I wanted to work with Harry for this lesson if that's alright…"

She could see that Hermione was eyeing Harry too, and Lola couldn't risk her talking rubbish behind her back to the Boy Who Lived. A prospect of having a meaningful friendship with Harry was the last thing that kept Lola from going insane.

Unfortunately, this made Lola do something very insensitive. She walked past Ron, without even looking at him, and asked Harry the exact same question that she had received only moments ago, who, unaware of everything happening around him, kindly accepted Lola's offer.

Crushed, Ron continued to stand in the middle of the room, glued to the spot. He only moved when Flitwick paired him with the only person remaining without a partner, Hermione Granger.

Neither of them seemed happy with this arrangement.

Thanks to Hermione's famous tip about proper wrist movements and pronunciation, Lola managed to be the first person to have her feather floating in the air within minutes. Behind her, Hermione had turned a dangerous shade of puce.

Professor Flitwick was the first one to clap, followed by the rest of the class. Lola felt her cheeks heat up.

"Wow!" Harry said after everything died down. "That was very good."

"Thanks!" Lola replied softly.

"How did you do it? I can't seem to have much luck."

Within the following five minutes, Harry's feather also rose off the desk in front of them, right after Hermione's.

"That was amazing!" Harry exclaimed at the end of the class as they started walking towards the door. "We must be partners in every class now!"

Someone bumped into Lola from behind – she saw a few moments later that it was Ron. He seemed angry – no, furious – and on the brink of tears. Lola looked at Harry, who seemed just as perplexed, and shrugged.

When Ron didn't turn up to the following class, Lola did, in fact, end up as Harry's partner once again. A part of her did feel horrible, did feel responsible somehow, but she was desperate – she needed something positive and Harry had been the only good thing to have happened to her so far at Hogwarts – minus her brief but sweet friendship with Fay.

As they were walking towards the Halloween feast, Harry, who was beginning to feel very uneasy, asked Seamus and Dean if they had seen Ron.

"Yeah, we did," replied Seamus in a hushed whisper. "He's throwing a fit in the boy's bathroom and wants to be left alone."

Lola saw the cloud of hesitation pass through Harry's face – she had to do something before she lost him – they could become a great duo together… if Ron and Hermione were out of the way…

"I'm sure he will turn up for the feast," she said reassuringly, prodding Harry to keep walking towards the Great Hall. "Everybody in their right mind knows you can't miss a festive feast. And I saw him, Ron knows how to eat; just give him some time to be hungry."

After a moment's consideration, Harry decided that Lola was right and followed her through the double doors. The magnificent Halloween decorations were more than enough to keep their minds off of Ron.

As they clinked their glasses of pumpkin juice and enjoyed their honey-roasted turkey bites, Lola realised she was having the time of her life. Seamus and Dean were a funny pair, occasionally throwing in a few jokes which made everyone crack up. The Weasley twins, who Lola hadn't properly met until that point, also pulled a few pranks on everyone. Even Parvati and Lavender seemed to be enjoying themselves around Lola – and Percy was once again speaking to her. For the first time in weeks, Lola felt warm inside.

It was at that moment, that had Lola realised what a massive idiot she was being.

It.

Was.

Halloween.

The sound of her falling fork startled Harry, who looked back at her with concern.

"You okay?" Harry asked her with a frozen smile.

"The Troll…" Lola whispered, without realising she had spoken out loud.

Harry felt very confused. "What?" he asked calmly.

Instead of replying, Lola stood up suddenly. She had to warn someone, let them know what was being planned in the shadows. She looked up at the teachers' table and was relieved to see that Professor Snape was sitting there, enjoying some baked potatoes and half a glass of mulled wine.

But before she could even move an inch, she saw Quirrell burst through the doors, screaming about a troll in the dungeons, and instantly knew the damage was already done.

Panic erupted in the Great Hall. Dumbledore tried to calm everyone, to organise the chaos, as Lola began slapping herself in the forehead repeatedly; how could she have been so incredibly _stupid_.

"Hey!" Harry suddenly grabbed Lola's arm. He had an unreadable expression on his face. "Do you have something to do with this?" he asked angrily.

Taken aback, all Lola could muster was "What?"

"How did you know about the troll?" he pressed sharply.

The realisation of her slip-up slapped Lola in the face. She needed to remove herself from this situation instantly until she could find a good enough answer to Harry's last question.

"Don't be ridiculous – of course I didn't! I'm leaving now, and I suggest you do the same!"

With that, she turned on her heels and quickly ran towards the pool of first-year Gryffindor's in front of Percy. She was dying inside, knowing how badly she had messed up, knowing how easily she could've prevented all of this.

But that feeling was nothing compared to how her heart dropped once she realised the full extent of her actions that day.

Ron Weasley, who was stuck in the boy's bathroom all alone because of Lola, was the only person in the entire Castle who had no clue what the hell was going on.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you for reading! You won't have to wait long for the next update; promise! See you then...


	14. A Lie Told

It hadn't been difficult at all for them to track down Quirrell's Troll – all they had to do was follow the most foul scent that they had ever had the displeasure to smell.

But there was no room for feeling victorious about their discovery – they watched, in horror, as the twelve feet Troll dragged along a huge wooden club into the boy's bathroom.

A petrified scream followed.

"Ron!" screamed Harry and dashed forward.

Taking deep breaths, Lola followed. She had a plan, but how much of it would she be able to execute was a mystery.

The scene inside was blood-curdling. The Troll was having the time of his life, taking great pleasure from bashing and crushing everything around it carelessly. Harry was frantically lifting heavy pieces of debris, trying not to be noticed by the Troll, looking for Ron – who was nowhere to be seen.

Until Lola saw a pool of blood forming behind one of the stalls.

"Oh no…" she whispered, pointing at Ron's still body lying on the bathroom floor.

All blood got drained from Harry's face immediately. "Is he…?" He couldn't finish his sentence.

Lola shook her head. She didn't know but she hoped not. It would be… _her fault_.

The thought activated something very deep within Lola – something dangerous. Lifting her wand, she prepared to use the only magic she knew, to lift the Troll's wooden club and drop it on its head. It felt so wrong, knowing that it was Ron who was supposed to be doing this, knowing he was on the floor while Lola did so, losing so much blood.

Once the Troll was down, Harry ran to Ron and crouched down by his side. Feeling incredibly guilty, Lola shouted over the sound of burst waterpipes that she would go looking for help.

She didn't need to go far, before she bumped into Professor McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell.

 _Lovely_ , she thought.

"Professor!" Lola exclaimed, clutching her heart as she panted frantically. "The Troll attacked Ron - in the boy's bathroom – he's bleeding!"

"Oh dear," was all Minerva McGonagall said before she stormed past towards the end of the corridor, followed closely by Quirrell.

"You, again," said Snape when they left. "How is it so that you are involved in everything?"

Lola panicked. "I… My friend was attacked, Professor. Harry and I were just trying to help –"

"Potter. Of course." Snape gave Lola a fiery look that made her insides curl up. "I suggest you keep better company than that, Allen. If you want to keep out of trouble that is."

It sounded like a threat, but Lola knew exactly what Snape was talking about. She couldn't help but feel honoured that Severus Snape cared enough about her to warn her, as she watched him walk into the dreaded boy's bathroom. The fact that she had no intentions of taking his advice was another thing.

* * *

News of the previous night, as always, had spread like wildfire. Ron was all around commended for his "brave" take-down of a twelve-feet tall mountain Troll single-handedly, making many teen girls swoon at breakfast. He was still unconscious at the hospital wing, which made everything that more dramatic.

Lola and Harry had also been admitted, but much to the protest of Madam Pomfrey, discharged once it was realised that they were nowhere near to being in Ron's state. Which is why they were mysteriously missing from the story of the Troll's fall. They had been given a day off from their studies though.

Lola took Ron's freckled hand in between her palms. His hand was cold and limp. "I'm sorry, Ron. I'm so sorry…" she whispered.

She had a lot to be sorry about. Looking back, she could see clearly that it had been her actions which had led Ron to have a breakdown in the bathroom in the first place. Then, she had stopped Harry from going to check-up on him, knowing too well that Ron's pride would stop him from ever coming out of there. Needless to say, Lola was feeling ashamed of herself.

The doors opened to reveal Harry, who came in holding a cup of steaming tea and a grilled cheese sandwich in his hands. He put them down next to Lola, who had opted not to go down to breakfast. She felt too guilty to leave Ron's side.

They didn't speak for a long time, until Harry couldn't hold back anymore.

"I'm not crazy."

The statement _sounded_ so crazy that Lola slowly turned her head to look up at Harry. "Pardon?" she asked.

"I heard you last night. You knew about the Troll even before Quirrell came in. You stood up and you were looking at High Table – you were going to warn somebody, weren't you?"

She was completely cornered now, and she knew that Harry would not take 'No' for an answer. She knew enough about the Boy Who Lived to understand how obsessive he could be.

Lola sighed. "Yes. I did know about the Troll."

Not expecting Lola's honesty, or perhaps not believing up to that point that such a thing could be possible, Harry's eyes widened with shock. Lola noticed the change in his body-language; he was scared.

"How?" he asked almost immediately.

 _Oh, Harry…_ Lola thought to herself sardonically. _You would go insane if you knew how…_

"I will tell you," she said quietly. "But you mustn't tell anyone."

Harry shook his head and promised to keep it between them. Lola knew already she could trust him.

She leaned into his ear and whispered "I'm kind of psychic."

"What?!" Harry burst out just as the doors to the infirmary opened. "You're psychic?"

Lola glared at Harry for being so loud.

"What is the meaning of this?" Snape asked from behind, making them both jump. "Explain, Potter."

Harry looked between Snape and Lola, feeling disappointed in himself as he hadn't been able to keep his promise more than 10 seconds. He felt relieved, however, when Lola nodded for him to answer.

And so he did. He explained how Lola knew about the Troll, how they rushed to help Ron, and how she now made this ridiculous admission.

Severus simply stared into Harry's eyes as he listened, like a resting hawk. Lola wondered whether he was reading Harry's mind to get a better grasp of the events. She then realised, all this time, he could have been reading her mind too!

Then how did he not know Lola's real story?

"You," Snape said finally, looking at Lola. "Follow me. Now."

 _Oh, Snap_ , Lola went inwardly. _I shouldn't have thought of that_.

Sheepishly, Lola followed Snape out of the hospital wing into an empty corridor. Snape looked around for a while to make sure there was no one who could be eavesdropping close by.

"Is it true?" he then asked.

Lola nodded apprehensively.

"Prove it."

Lola continued to stare at Snape's austere features, completely lost for words.

"Prove. It." The sheer amount of force that could go into these two words was staggering.

"How?" Lola asked, shaken.

"However the hell it works!" Snape snapped angrily. He was getting tired of this stupid girl and her bullshit. "Tell me what's on my mind at this instance," he demanded.

"You don't believe me, but I don't need to be psychic to tell you that –"

Her words were cut short by Snape pushing her against the wall, pinning her small frame with his whole body. "I've had enough of your smart-mouth, Allen! Tell me something substantial right now, or else!"

Lola gulped. The pressure was unbelievable. She definitely was not psychic, she wasn't even a Legilimens for that matter. How was she meant to "read" his mind?

"I… uh… It doesn't work like that!" she protested. "I can't hear people's thoughts or feelings or anything like that. It's… it's more like I see things that are coming in the future. Big things. Things worth telling people about."

Severus took a step back, freeing Lola from the wall. He looked a little convinced. _Phew._

"So, you're a Seer?" He despised Seers. His entire life was ruined by one.

"Not exactly. When I 'See' something, when I'm warned of it, it can be changed. It's more like a vision than a prophecy. I can also seek to know something about the future, but it doesn't always work. It's hard to explain."

"Fine," said Snape grumpily. "What of my future?"

Lola closed her eyes tightly and pretended to tremble. "You will become the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor in a few years…"

Snape's eyelids shot up with excitement.

"But you won't like it very much. I see that it is a cursed position."

Snape gave Lola a chilling look. "Your vision is wrong. Go get it checked."

"I know what you really want to know, sir. The answer is… yes."

To an outsider, Snape's reaction would look nothing out of the ordinary, but Lola knew exactly what was happening. He lightly touched the lower half of his inner left forearm, took a deep breath and turned on his heels, his black cloak swishing behind him.

For the first time ever, Lola saw real fear in Severus Snape's eyes.


	15. A Card Played

Days passed quicker than a ray of light following the disaster at Halloween. Lola heard a million different versions of what had supposedly happened in the boy's bathroom that night, all stories suspiciously aggrandising Ron's input in the epic take-down of the twelve-feet Mountain Troll. It seemed so that Ron, who had rarely gotten the chance to have a glimpse of the limelight being one of seven siblings, decided to go along with the flow, even extending his hospital stay a week more than necessary to make things seem more dramatic. It wasn't until the 9th of November, a very bright and cold day, that Ron had finally felt "ready" to be discharged.

Interestingly, this was also the day that the first match of the Quidditch season would be played – Slytherin versus Gryffindor.

Lola did have an interest in sports – she had played tennis and volleyball for a number of years and was a locally praised ballet dancer – but Quidditch, which seemed like the magical equivalent football, did little to pique her interest to say the least. Then again, she had nothing else to do that breezy Saturday morning, and being a huge Quidditch fan, Fay would definitely be at the games.

Lola had attempted to speak to Fay a number of times, none of which had ended well. The first time she was completely ignored, twice she was told off, and once Fay even simply walked away with a huge sigh. It also didn't help that the people around her, usually Hermione, Lavender, Padma or Parvati, had made it their mission to whisper furiously or usher Fay away whenever they saw Lola approaching. But Lola was determined: this had to end today.

There was an even more pressing reason why Lola felt the need to attend the dreaded Quidditch match. After realising how horrible she had screwed up by forgetting about Quirrell's troll, Lola had spent every night ever since trying to remember every single other trick Quirrell was to have up his sleeve which could somehow be prevented, even making a little list for herself. Since it was so insignificant in the grand scheme of things, it had taken Lola a while, but she had finally remembered Quirrell's aggressive attempt at trying to knock Harry off his broom at his first Quidditch match. It was difficult to admit, but Lola had changed the course of destiny within the Harry Potter universe in just a few months – Hermione was not even friends with Ron or Harry – and Lola had already begun thinking of ways to correct her mistakes. But for now, she had to acknowledge that such changes made Harry extremely vulnerable to the likes of Voldemort, and she had to do something about it.

Lola was determined to fix it all by midnight.

So she calmly walked into Snape's office, who was hunched over a sack of Potions supplies.

He jumped when Lola cleared her throat to make her presence known. "What is it?" he snapped angrily, fixing his robes with urgency.

"I don't know how to say this, but… Harry's life is in danger."

Snape's eyes widened with concern. Of course, Lola knew this wasn't because he cared so much for his students – or particularly for Harry for that matter – but because he had an obligation to protect him based on his deal with Dumbledore.

"Potter?" Snape asked sceptically. "In danger?"

Lola nodded confidently. "I can sense it. You must attend today's Quidditch match. And you must not allow Professor Quirrell to have direct eye contact with Harry's broom."

"His broom…?" Snape looked conflicted. His contempt and distrust for psychics was battling with Lola Allen's already proven track record with predictions. She did sound completely insane, but then again, it would be foolish of Severus to put anything past Quirinus. "I… okay…" he began to mumble.

Hearing the confirmation she was looking for, Lola immediately turned for the door. She was scared of being bombarded with questions – questions which could expose her wealth of knowledge about things that were yet to happen. She stormed off quickly, feeling lighter than ever before – if everything went according to plan, she would finally be a step ahead of Voldermort.

Little did Lola know, fate had other plans.

* * *

"I don't think it was that bad," Padma was saying, but Fay was too concentrated on the beautiful fish that swam the Great Lake. With their golden pink sheen and mesmerising motion, these magical fish filled Fay's heart with incredible joy.

"Hush," Parvati warned her sister quietly. "You weren't there."

But Padma seemed set on speaking her mind. She waved her hand to illustrate her disregard for Parvati's comment. "It's not like she seriously injured anyone – or even killed. You guys don't even know her reasoning. Maybe it was an accident? Maybe she heard the spell somewhere and didn't know what it did? Maybe she was played by someone? Have you guys even spoken to her about it?"

The girls quickly turned their eyes to the ground in shame; they all knew that Padma had a point, but being so wrapped up about that morning's events and being personally traumatised, demonising Lola had been easier than trying to be empathetic.

Just then, Fay realised what the conversation had turned to again. It seemed like she was the only person intent on laying Lola's wrongdoings to rest. With an incredibly calm and serene expression, Fay withdrew her gaze from the beautiful fish and looked up at Padma.

"None of what you said excuses what she did to me. Would you feel so bad for her if you were the one on the receiving end of that curse? It's called an Unforgivable for a reason Padma…"

It was exactly at that time that Lola appeared from behind a close by tree. She had been there for the past twenty minutes, waiting to hear of something useful, to pluck up enough courage to walk up to the group of girls. But when the conversation turned to her, she knew she couldn't wait any longer.

Lola cleared her throat as she approached the girls. "Actually, if you would guys let me explain –"

Startled, "Oh!" screamed Hermione as she stared at Lola's approaching form. "Have you been listening to us? How incredibly rude!"

"Yeah," nodded Lavender furiously, wrapping both her arms around Fay's shoulders. "Let's go. I'm allergic to snakes."

"Wait!" Lola shouted desperately to their retracting backs. "I need to talk to Fay! Alone!"

Fay had just had enough. How many times did she have to say no to this girl? How many times was she going to ruin her day? Boiling with fury, Fay turned around quickly, her hair flying in the air like little bullets.

"You might want to speak to ME. But who said I want to speak to YOU?"

Her voice was cracking and high-pitched, and her cheeks were pink with anger, but Lola was so thankful to have finally gotten a genuine reaction out of Fay. She strode quickly towards her, wanting to savour this opportunity, but felt her heart break into million pieces when she saw Fay flinch with fear. It was at that moment that Lola realised, Fay didn't want to have anything to do with Lola, not because she didn't care, but because she was scared to death.

Realising this, Lola immediately took a step back. Not only did she not want to push her luck, but an intense feeling of guilt and sorrow washed over her again and again. How stupid had she been to not realise this before; Quirrell had traumatised this poor girl, had taken every ounce of trust and belief in her bones and crushed it to pieces. It was easy for Lola as a seventeen-year-old to think that this was something to get over easily, but Fay was only eleven – a child attending a boarding school far, far away from home. She had simply trusted someone she had seen no reason not to trust and was brutally attacked for it.

Slowly but confidently, Lola reached into the depths of her robes and pulled out her wand, trying to ignore the momentarily terrified expression on Fay's face. She quickly lifted the wand above her head, opened her palm and let it drop on the floor, assuring Fay of her innocent intentions with the pleading look haunting her deep blue eyes.

"Please, Fay," she begged. "You've been tricked. We've all been. There's so much you don't know -"

"Sorry, no," Fay cut her off, preparing to turn around and keep walking. "I'm pretty certain I don't wish to speak to you right now-"

Lola was fed up. There was so much she wanted to say but would rather not spill it all out in the presence of so many prying eyes and ears. But she knew exactly what to say to capture Fay's attention without giving too much away. It was time to bring out the big guns.

"This is not like what happened to her!" she shouted. "You can trust me on that!

Fay stopped dead in her tracks. Lola watched apprehensively as all blood withdrew from her pale face. She quietly mouthed "Freya?" without almost moving her lips, so that nobody else but Lola would hear or understand her.

Lola simply nodded.

"How... How do you...?" Fay stuttered.

"I told you," sighed Lola. "There's so much you don't know." Finally, she had the upper hand. Finally, they were going to have a conversation.

Finally, she was going to have her friend back.

Lola had a momentary heart attack when Fay turned her back without saying a word. Had she gone too far by bringing up her sister? Could she have upset Fay that badly? Instant regret began washing over her.

But she quickly regained her composure when she heard Fay say "You guys go. I'll catch up with you in a moment," to her friends.

The girls, except for Padma, protested at once, but stopped when Fay waved her hand.

"Just go," was all she said.

Hermione, who was staring at Lola like she was a ready-to-explode bomb, asked "Are you sure?" one last time.

"Yeah. Pretty sure."

And with that, they were gone.

Lola realised there and then that she actually didn't know exactly what she really wanted to say, or how to say it. She tried to form a comprehensive account of everything that had happened since that morning in her mind, but it sounded absolutely insane.

Fay crossed her arms in front of her chest with a difficult-to-read expression on her face. "I'm listening."


	16. A Past Revealed

**A/N:** Me again! Thank you for your kind and excited reviews; they mean so much to me. Truly. For those of you wondering, I will not rest until this story is complete, so you don't need to worry about it being abandoned. Updates might slack from time to time depending on my uni work, but you can count on me to always be back. I have an epic ending planned! But you'll just have to wait and see (favourite or follow this story if you don't want to miss that). This chapter will hopefully give a bit more insight into Fay's backstory. She will truly become a central character in this story (as you might have already realised) but no other chapter will concentrate as much on her I don't think. Next chapter, everything will come together (?). Stay tuned, and thank you for the continued support; you rock!

* * *

"- and apparently that's why she wasn't sent to Azkaban and that's why there was a troll in the boy's bathroom on Halloween."

When the last word rolled off of her tongue, Fay looked up at Healer Mary, the counsellor she was appointed to when the first incident with Lola had taken place. She had never thought she would be back at her office ever, her incredibly strong pride preventing her from even considering the idea. She was a strong girl who had been through a lot, dealing with most things on her own; why would anyone think she needed any help? But after being sat down by Lola to be told a crazy story about overhearing Quirrell plotting at night and becoming a target for destruction, she needed to share everything on her chest before she went insane. Could it really be all true? Even the incredibly sceptical (and frankly, outright scary) Professor Snape was apparently on board with everything.

Mary felt the same way - it certainly made some sense. Sure, the idea of a Hogwarts Professor being a secret psychopath was a bit hard to swallow, but then again, how likely was it that an eleven-year-old could produce the Cruciatus curse? When put into perspective, Lola Allen's story did explain a few inexplicable things.

She shared this opinion with Fay, whose eyes widened with disbelief.

"But psychics don't exist. They're frauds!"

"Fay," said Mary patiently. "We live in a world of magic. There are unicorns roaming the Forest outside, moving staircases within this very Castle, and you are sceptical about someone being psychic?"

When said like that, Fay had to accept it sounded plausible.

"But let me ask you a more important question. Last time you were here, you gave off the impression that you never wanted to hear from Lola Allen ever again. What changed?"

Fay bit her lip. Did she even want to go there? Not really. But looking up at Mary's stubborn gaze and the thumping headache she was developing from keeping everything inside convinced her otherwise.

"She… she said something about my sister."

Without realising, Mary's breathing shallowed. The compact office immediately felt ten degrees colder, though the fireplace to their right was blazing merrily.

"What did she say?" asked Mary delicately.

"She kept going on and on about wanting to speak to me. As always, I brushed her off. But then she said… that this is nothing like what happened to Freya."

Mary waited, but Fay didn't say anything. "And?" she prompted gently.

"I… I was curious. I had never told her anything about Freya, you see. To anyone." _Not even to you_ , Fay thought inwardly. "How could she have known about her? How could she have known about what had happened to her? It was almost like she… she…"

"Read your mind?" asked Mary, slightly amused.

Fay glared. "Something like that."

Of course, this was far from the truth. The real story was not that impressive at all. Fay's parents had sent Dumbledore a letter before her arrival at Hogwarts, detailing what had happened to her twin sister and marking their concern for their daughter, asking the Headmaster to keep an eye out on her. This had been the main reason for Dumbledore's appointment of a Mental Healer from St. Mungo's to the Hogwarts infirmary following Lola's attack. Dumbledore had shared this information with all of Fay's teachers, to ensure her safety and mental stability. Thinking it might be related to why Quirrell targeted Fay, Snape had then shared this information with Lola the day she had been rescued by him.

It hadn't taken Lola long to put two and two together and realise that Fay had drawn parallels between what had happened to her sister and what "Lola" had done to her.

"Why would Lola say such a thing"? asked Mary, fully aware of the fact that it was extremely unlikely for Fay to open up about it.

Surprisingly, Fay decided to answer that question, though with a very short answer. "My sister died at the hands of someone she trusted with her life."

"Care to elaborate?" asked Mary as she turned a new page on her notebook.

Fay closed her eyes. She still remembered that day like yesterday.

* * *

 _The doorbell was loud and annoying. Fay hated it so much. She never rang the doorbell when she came home. She always knocked. That's how her mum always knew it was her at the door, not somebody else. Freya would ring the bell. She liked the melody. Fay would always knock. This was just one of those little quirks that distinguished the two twins. Otherwise, they were exactly the same._

 _Fay opened the door. It was Freya, like she knew it would be. Like she felt it would be. But she had company. Candice Matlock, their neighbour and Freya's best friend._

 _Fay hated Candice. She had bright blonde hair and big, green eyes. She always smelled of strawberry shampoo and cigarette smoke. She was four years older than Fay and Freya and smoked cigarettes she would steal from the Muggle shop downtown. Candice would never go without having cigarettes or a boyfriend. Fay never understood what Freya saw in her. It must have been the excitement._

 _"Hello, Candice," Fay mumbled at the girl standing in front of her._

 _"Hiiiiii," replied Candice with a huge, fake smile. "Is anybody home?"_

 _"No," Fay replied shortly. "Just me."_

 _"Great," said Candice, excited, and pushed past Fay to enter the house. Freya followed her sheepishly._

 _As if it was her own house, Candice entered the kitchen without asking for permission. She rummaged through the fridge to make herself a sandwich. She licked her fingers as she quickly devoured it, savouring every bite. With her other hand, she opened a can of soda. Within minutes, she was finished._

 _"Let's go," she said. Her and Freya began climbing the stairs. Fay heard her sister's bedroom door open._

 _Not knowing what else to do with herself, Fay decided to go back to her own room as well. She was planning to listen to some music, maybe play with her miniature Quidditch set. None of that would happen._

 _As she was passing the hallway, Freya's bedroom door was open, and she could hear the two girls laughing and messing around. She moved a little closer to hear what they were talking about. That's when she saw Candice holding out her wand, laughing._

 _"It's not like that!" She was saying. "It's harmless! It's only supposed to make you feel a little disoriented. Jacob tried it on me when he first told me about it. It just made me a little confused and dizzy, that's all."_

 _"I thought you weren't allowed to use your wand outside of Hogwarts?" Freya asked tentatively._

 _"This is not a "registered" spell. So the Ministry people wouldn't get notified if I used it, whether or not I'm at Hogwarts." Candice explained._

 _"Mum said only criminals use spells like that!" exclaimed Freya, slightly scared. Fay couldn't see her sister from where she was standing, but she was sure fear was etched all over her face._

 _"Well, stealing is a crime Freya. You know I steal stuff from Muggles all the time, do you not? So what if I make the storeowner a little dizzy? It's probably safer for both of us! He could try to get in my way otherwise. I might even be forced to kill the bastard, who knows?"_

 _Candice was, of course, "joking", but Fay didn't find it funny in the slightest. Candice's expression, the things she was saying, the things she was doing all disgusted her very deeply. How could her sister be friends with such a repulsive girl? Fay could only hope Freya would be smart enough to not get involved in her illicit activities._

 _"Come onnnnnn!" Candice begged. "It's okay. Let me just try it once, please? I won't do it again if you don't like it."_

 _"No," said Freya after a moments pause. "Please don't use any spells on me."_

 _"Alright, fine," shrugged Candice, but she was still holding her wand behind her. "I'll try it on Jacob again."_

 _Freya sighed, relieved. "Thank you. Now, I was going to show you the new dress that mum got me. Give me a second to find it."_

 _Fay could hear Freya shuffling her closet. Clothes were definitely not Fay's forte. Feeling a bit bored, she considered retreating to her room for a split second. But what happened next would nail her to the spot and become a memory that she would never forget for the rest of her life._

 _It all happened very quickly. Just as she heard Freya say "Here it is!", she saw Candice point her wand at Freya and scream "Perturbo!"_

 _A moment of absolute silence ensured, before Fay heard a sickening thud. Freya had fallen to the ground._

 _A nervous laughter broke out from Candice. "Frey?" she called out anxiously._

 _There was no response._

 _Candice's palms started sweating. "Frey, this is not funny!"_

 _Fay couldn't hold out for much longer. She barged into the room, asking "What is going on?"_

 _Candice, who had started shaking uncontrollably, didn't say a word. Fay turned her gaze to look upon her sister's lifeless body._

 _At St. Mungo's, a tired nurse had explained to Fay and her family that a combination of overexcitement, the use of underage magic and the use of an unregistered spell had all been contributing factors to Freya's passing. However, the most pressing reason was the unfortunate fact that the spell had hit her in the chest, stopping Freya's nine-year-old heart instantly. There was nothing that could have been done._

 _Fay's parents had to bribe many reporters and officials to keep Freya's story out of the Daily Prophet. Fay never contested this. She believed her sister's memory would be tainted otherwise._

 _They would never see Candice again, or hear of her. She would be sent to a correction facility, and then to a mental institution, purely because what had happened was deemed as an underage magic "accident". But Fay knew, even if she had been given a life-long sentence in Azkaban, even if she had been given the Kedavra penalty, nothing would do much to soothe the deep devastation and sorrow her and her family would feel for the rest of their lives._

 _With Freya gone, life would never be the same._

* * *

"Fay?" Mary called, concerned. "Are you with me?"

Fay came out of her reverie. "Huh?"

"I just asked you whether you'd like to elaborate on your sister's passing?"

"No," said Fay simply. "I really wouldn't."

* * *

 **A/N:** If you made it till the end, you're a legend. Stay tuned for next chapter! xxx


	17. A Story Told

**A/N** : Thank you for the reviews; you know I love reading them. This is a long chapter (yay!), written in the hopes that it will tie together everything that has happened so far. Hopefully, a five-way friendship is in the making? Let's wait and see, shall we... Favourite, follow and review if you'd like, and have fun reading! xo

...

Lola's heart would skip a beat every time Harry would seem to struggle with his broom. She would constantly see Snape trying to distract Quirrell in every way possible, but it would seem as though he was running out of things to say.

"Harry!" Lola would scream at the sky, feeling like this was the last resort. "Be careful!"

But this would have the exact opposite effect. Not only would Quirrell hear Lola's warning, but a very confused and caught-off-guard looking Harry would all of a sudden collide with the end of the Slytherin Captain's broom, who would note this as the perfect opportunity to knock Harry off his broom.

Harry would fall out of the sky like an injured bird, slowed down only by Snape's magical intervention.

With the seeker unconscious, the game would end abruptly and arrangements would need to be made for a reschedule. Marcus Flint, the Slytherin Captain, would earn a two-weeks suspension and Harry would open his eyes at the infirmary, Madam Pomphrey kneeling over him with concern.

"He's okay!" she would announce to the rest of the Gryffindor Team, who would be waiting outside the door to the hospital wing, whispering worriedly.

Harry's bedside would be visited by the likes of Dumbledore, McGonagall, Ron and then finally Lola, who would apologise for distracting him during the game. Harry would reassure Lola that he understood why she had issued that warning and would express his disappointment in himself for not noticing Flint's malicious intentions sooner. Lola would keep it to herself that Flint was not who she had intended to warn him about.

Harry's injuries would soon heal, and he would start practising for the rescheduled game right away.

This would be the only positive outcome of that day's events.

...

"I don't mean this in a bad way, but I'm glad the game got rescheduled. At least I'll get to watch it this time," Fay was saying to Lola over breakfast.

Talking things over thoroughly had finally resolved the issues between them. Lola wasn't sure how much of what she had said Fay believed in, but frankly, for as long as they could be friends again, she didn't really care.

"Oh yeah, where were you during the game by the way?" asked Lola curiously. "I thought you would be the first in line."

Fay would rather crawl under her bed for the rest of her life than to admit she had been to see a Mental Healer. "I'd forgotten…"

"You?" Lola raised her eyebrows. "Forgot about Quidditch?"

"Well, it was right after our conversation, wasn't it? Forgive me if I was a bit preoccupied."

Lola apologised sympathetically. She had put a lot on the poor girl's plate and had to acknowledge that she had taken everything exceptionally well.

"Speaking of which…" Fay brought her voice down to a whisper and snuggled up close to her friend. "I still don't get it. Why wouldn't Quirrell wipe your memory clean? Why would he leave such a trace? Isn't he scared you might tell someone? I really don't understand how someone who went through all that trouble would make a mistake like this."

Lola looked around carefully, making sure they couldn't be overheard. "Professor Snape doesn't think it's a mistake. We tested this. He told me something silly, then tried to wipe my memory. It didn't work. I still remember it. He also said he can't read my mind, and it's possible Quirrell can't too. He probably doesn't even realise that I still remember. I never brought it up during the trial, and they all thought I was under the influence of Veritaserum. It's like there's a shield around my brain. We can't figure it out either…"

"Do you think it has something to do with your psychic abilities?" asked Fay.

"It's possible," Lola replied quickly, not wanting to delve too deep into that. "But Fay, don't forget what I told you about all of this. Do not spend too much time around Quirrell. Do not have direct eye-contact with him. Always distract yourself when you're around him, try not to think about any of this."

Fay nodded seriously. "Got it. Don't worry."

For the rest of the day, it was business as usual, and during the night they drifted off to sleep as they chatted about random things.

...

That evening, Lola was nervous. Very nervous.

She had contemplated for hours whether it was a good idea to give out the two letters that she had authored before breakfast that day. One had been addressed to Fay, asking her to bring herself and Hermione to the Library at exactly half-past eight that evening after dinner, and she had another letter asking the exact same thing but this time addressed to Harry, with instructions to bring along Ron. If everything went according to plan, the five of them would join her shortly, and they would hopefully be formulating a plan to take down Voldemort.

For now, she was sitting at the Library all alone as the clock neared eight thirty with each click, making her fidget more and more with worry.

Harry would be the first one there, who would limp his way into the tiny private study room.

"Ron's coming in a second. He said he had to run up to the Tower to… Well, I'm not sure what for actually."

The truth of the matter was, Ron had consumed a hefty amount of onion soup at dinner and wanted to brush his teeth and fix up his hair a little before heading down to the Library. He had been personally invited by his crush, after all.

Shortly after, Ron, Fay and Hermione joined them. Lola cleared her throat when they all sat down.

"First, thank you for coming," she said as she looked at the four people sitting around the table. "I really appreciate it."

"No bother," said Ron, a bit over-excited.

Lola continued. "I can tell you're wondering why I asked you all here tonight. Truth is, I think you all deserve to know what's going on here at Hogwarts, under our very nose. Especially you, Harry."

She looked at Harry, who seemed surprised. Hermione, who was getting a bit agitated due to her lack of knowledge, grunted.

"Could you hurry up, please? Some of us take their homework seriously."

Lola tried to keep herself calm and motivated. She still didn't understand exactly why Hermione couldn't stand her, but from what she understood with her conversations with Fay, it had something to do with envy. Lola was determined to fix all of her broken relationships, starting with Hermione.

"Sorry," she apologised to Hermione. "I'll try to keep it brief."

"Please do," Hermione insisted.

Lola took a deep breath. "I'm not sure if you guys have noticed, but there is something very wrong with our Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. And I'm not talking about his stutter," she added, realising the shocked expression on their faces. "I'm going to start everything from the very beginning. Some of you already know parts of this story, but I would still urge you to listen very carefully."

"One night, I got lost. I had attempted to enter the Library to pick up a few books for night-time reading, but it was locked and I couldn't find my way back. Filch was onto me, so I ran. I hid behind a statue, from where I could see Professor Quirrell. He was speaking to himself, and mind you, he wasn't stuttering. He kept saying things like 'I know, My Lord' and 'As you wish, master', but there was nobody else with him there."

"Bloody weird," Ron remarked.

"Well, that's not even half of it. I think he saw me that night because from that moment on, I believe I became a target. Strange things started happening, the worst of which was what went on with Fay."

"Wait," said Harry. "What are you talking about?"

Lola had forgotten that nobody else but her roommates, a few Hogwarts Professors and the witches and wizards who had attended her trial, knew about the incident at the girl's dormitory. So she told them.

"But it wasn't me. Quirrell stole my real wand, you see, and gave me back a fake copy. For a few days, I was walking around with that fake wand thinking nothing of it, while he practised the Cruciatus curse with my real wand. He also placed the Imperius curse on Fay, making her steal a few strands of my hair, so that he could make Polyjuice Potion with it. Fay, of course, doesn't remember any of this, as he wiped her memory clean with Obliviate."

"Excuse me," Ron interrupted this time. "I don't know any of what you just said."

Hermione jumped in before Lola could open her mouth, and explained the three Unforgivable curses, the Obliviate charm and the purpose of a Polyjuice potion to the boys with great pleasure.

"That's right," Lola nodded, trying to sound impressed. "Couldn't have put it myself better. Thank you, Hermione."

She muttered with pink cheeks "No problem."

"So, are you guys with me so far?" she asked the group boys and girls. They all nodded in unison, transfixed by Lola's storytelling. "He wrote me a letter one evening impersonating Professor Flitwick, and stunned me when I went to where he asked me to go. I was trapped there until the next morning, unconscious and oblivious. Meanwhile, he drank the potion, took my appearance and went to the Tower after everyone fell asleep. He then used the Cruciatus curse on Fay."

Fay shuddered, and Lola squeezed her hand under the table.

"He then returned me my wand as I was still unconscious and got rid of the copy. I woke up, not knowing what was going on. I punched a window, cut my wrist open, used the tip of my wand and a little bit of blood to write a letter to Professor Snape."

"Wow," Ron whistled. "Smart move."

Embarrassed, "Thank you," nodded Lola. "There was nothing else I could have done. I asked him for help, and he came. He gave me a dose of Veritaserum, and asked me a bunch of questions. He quickly realised there was foul play involved. Apparently, this was a tactic commonly used by Death Eaters back in the day."

Ron and Hermione were the only people to gasp. Fay, because she already knew the story, and Harry, because he didn't know what that meant, were completely unfazed.

"Death Eaters were Voldemort's followers, Harry," Lola explained solemnly.

"Ah," Harry said simply, trying to hide the sudden pain he felt at his chest. "I see."

Ron, who had been irked by Lola's use of the He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named name, wanted to tell her off but feared he would look like a coward. "So you think Quirrell is… a secret Death Eater?" he whispered instead, his eyes wide and round with disbelief.

"Yes," confirmed Lola, and ignoring the sceptical look on their faces, continued. "I stood trial. A room full of people were shown what happened that day. I gave testimony under the influence of Veritaserum." She thought best to keep Professor Snape's antidote out of the equation to avoid trouble for both of them. It also made her story more believable. "I was cleared of all charges. Don't you guys think there's a reason for all this? Don't you think I would be expelled and in Azkaban by now if this was all truly my doing? I'm sure you all remember the Troll on Halloween. That was Quirrell's doing, too. He is a master of Trolls, and under normal circumstances, a troll is not supposed to be able to enter the Hogwarts grounds."

She gave them all a moment to consider her last words.

"But why?" asked Hermione, just as Lola had anticipated she would. "Why would Professor Quirrell want to bring in a Troll?"

"The third-floor corridor is out of bounds this year. Have you guys thought about why that might be? There were reports of an attempted robbery at Gringotts this summer. But whatever the robber was looking for had been long moved to a secure location. Think for a second where that might be?"

"Hogwarts," said Fay a moment later. "It's the most secure building in the Wizarding World."

"Precisely," continued Lola. "Is everything starting to come together now? Quirrell brought in the Troll, so it would distract everyone as he ran up to the third-floor corridor. I'm sorry to break it to you Harry, and it might come as a shock, but I believe that all those years ago, Voldemort never died. A part of his soul still lingered around. Somehow, Quirrell knows this and he's trying to bring him back. Whatever can help him do that, is hidden two floors above us, most probably protected by many charms and spells. He tried to steal it, but somebody must've suspected that this item wasn't safe where it was, because they moved it here, under Dumbledore's protection. Quirrell suspects I'm onto him, so he tried to get rid of me. But he doesn't know one thing about me; I'm psychic."

Hermione, who had been mostly on board with Lola's story up until that minute, burst out laughing. "You're what?"

"Psychic," said Lola with conviction. "I can sense important events a few days, hours or moments before they happen. I can see the possible consequences and can predict the future in some sense. Things like that."

"I'm sorry, but you are crazy," Hermione stated. "I'm leaving. This was a huge waste of time."

"Wait," said Lola quickly. "I know you don't believe in unobservable, unmeasurable things. But I urge you to look around you, Hermione. We live in a world of magic. Don't you think you should have a bit more faith?"

"I don't live by faith. I live by concrete facts."

"I know you do," Lola fired back quickly. "Your parents are dentists; you come from a long line of doctors and scientists. I understand and respect your world-view, Hermione, but I have no reason to lie to you."

Hermione tried to remain poker-faced, but it was difficult; how did Lola know about her family? She had not shared such information with anyone. There had to be a reasonable explanation – the alternative was too unbelievable.

Her surprise must've shown, because Fay chuckled. "It's amazing, right? It's almost like she can reach into your brain…"

"No," Hermione said stubbornly. No matter what her opinion was on the inside, she refused to back down and publicly admit that she believed in psychics. "But I appreciate your understanding, and so I will continue to listen to you."

"Sure," whispered Ron to Harry under his breath. "That ought to be the reason."

Lola continued. "Yesterday, I warned you, Harry, because Quirrell was trying to knock you off your broom. I felt it the day before. It was like I saw a vision, heard a whisper, I don't even recall. But I warned Professor Snape about what might happen, he did his best, and although Quirrell didn't succeed in his plans, stupid Flint came to his rescue."

"That git!" Ron exclaimed angrily, roused. Harry told him to calm down.

"Somehow, my brain is protected by a shield. Professor Snape tells me that he tried to read my mind many times, tried to erase my memories, but to no avail. It seems almost impenetrable. Honestly, I don't know why. Neither does he. Fay suspects it's because of my psychic abilities. But this has been my biggest advantage so far. Quirrell believes I don't remember anything about what happened that god-awful morning. He doesn't anticipate I can connect the dots. He doesn't know that I've been working with Professor Snape, and that I have confided in you –"

"Just as we're on the topic, why _did_ you confide in us?" asked Hermione.

"Because I believe you four are the most bright, brave and trustworthy people I have ever met, and will probably ever meet, in my life. If Quirrell is to be stopped somehow, I know that you guys' input is necessary. I know everything I told you so far mostly concerns only Harry, and perhaps Fay to some degree, but my gut feeling tells me that all four of you are needed. And so far, being at Hogwarts has taught me above anything else that I should pay more attention to my gut feelings."

This time, it was Fay who lovingly squeezed Lola's hand, giving her all the encouragement she needed.

"Going back to the night you witnessed Quirrell speaking to himself, do you think he was communicating with Voldemort?" Harry asked Lola.

"He must've been. According to Snape, that's how his followers addressed him."

"He must have a secret communicating device!" cried Ron, his brain going a hundred miles an hour. "I bet it's under his turban."

"That's brilliant thinking, Ron," Lola chimed in immediately, trying to hide the fact that she knew all too well what was really under that turban. His idea wasn't been that far off from the actual truth, after all.

"So, now that we're all up to date," Fay said once everyone digested what Lola had to say. "What do we do now?"


End file.
